I 


mm 


339.16 


^^2^ 


(f^oixxxnbia  ^Inivcv&itxi 
in  the  ®itu  of  %Uw  ||<JvU 


l^ibvarg 


(Bxvext  axxoxxtixnoxx&ix^ 


DEDICATION  OF  MONUMENTS 


ERECTED  BY  THE 


lORAYIAN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


A    MEMORIAL 


DEDICATION  OF  MONUMENTS 


ERECTED  BY  THE 


MORAVIAN  HISTOEICAL  SOCIETY, 


TO  MARK  THE  SITES  OF 


ANCIENT  MISSIONARY  STATIONS 


(jLi.dUiL^  Yf.^.' 


NEW  YORK  AND  CONNECTICUT. 


NEW   YORK: 
C.    B.    RICHARDSON, 

OFFICE  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  MAGAZINE,  348  BROADWAY. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT   &   CO. 

1860. 


PHILADELPHIA 
COLLINS,     PRINTER. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


I.  SHEKOMEKO  IX  1745,  page  63. 


II.  WECHQUADNACH  LAKE',  or  IXDIAX  POND, 

to  face  page  (58. 

III.  STISSIXG  MOUXTAIX  AXD  HALCYOX  LAKE, 

from  Buettner's  Monument,  to  face  page  90. 

lY.  BUETTXER'S  MOXUMEXT,  to  face  page  123. 

y.  BRUCE  AXD  POWELL'S  MOXUMEXT, 

near  Wecbquaduacli  Lake,  to  face  page  150, 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  contain  an  account  of  the  dedi- 
cation of  two  monuments,  lately  erected  by  the  Moravian 
Historical  Society,  on  the  sites  of  once  flourishing  Moravian 
mission  stations,  among  the  "  New  England  Indians,"  in 
New  York  and  Connecticut. 

The  Committee  to  whom  that  body  intrusted  the  execu- 
tion of  its  project,  felt  themselves  called  upon  to  secure  a 
record  of  a  historical  transaction,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
gratify  the  inquiry  and  interest  known  to  have  been 
awakened  on  the  side  of  the  public,  as  well  as  among  many 
individuals  more  directly  concerned.  With  the  preparation 
of  such  a  narrative  the  "  Committee  on  Monuments"  charged 
the  author  of  this  volume.  Naturally  enough  he  did  not 
contemplate  inserting  the  Moravian  sacred  music,  and  the 
full  detail  of  the  ritual  of  the  Moravian  Church ;  but  by 
others  it  was  thought  proper  that  the  narrative  should  be  a 
faithful  record  of  all  that  passed  at  scenes  deeply  interest- 
ing and  impressive,  for  that  thus  might  best  be  preserved 
forever  fresh  the  very  words  and  tones  that  in  those  plea- 
sant scenes  had  bound  in  loving  brotherhood  the  hearts  of 
those  who  had  gathered  together  to  honor  the  memory  of 
men  of  peace,  of  faithful  soldiers  of  the  cross. 

For  the  historical  sketch  of  the  Moravian  mission  the 
author  is  largely  indebted  to  his  esteemed  uncle,  the  llev. 
L.  T.  Reichel,  of  the  Elders'  Conference  of  the  Brethren's 


Viii  PEEFACE. 

Church,  who  made  the  subject  the  theme  of  a  public  discus- 
sion, while  pastor  of  the  congregation  at  Litiz,  Pa.  The 
addresses  were  furnished  by  the  respective  speakers ;  those 
that  relate  to  the  Mohican  and  Wampanoag  missions 
present  many  facts  not  incorporated  by  Loskiel  in  his  his- 
tory. To  have  exhausted  all  the  material  at  his  copimand 
would  have  enlarged  that  admirable  work  to  undue  limits. 
Thus  a  mine  of  historical  interest  was  left  for  others  to  open, 
and  from  this  source,  and  from  papers  in  the  archives  in 
the  Moravian  Church  at  Bethlehem  and  elsewhere,  much 
that  is  new  concerning  the  early  condition  of  the  Indian 
stations  was  obtained  by  those  who  were  appointed  to  speak 
at  the  dedication  of  the  monuments. 

The  sketch  of  the  village  of  Shekomeko  is  a  fac-simile  of 
a  drawing  taken  in  1745 ;  it  belongs  to  a  number  of  papers 
relating  to  this  station,  preserved  at  Bethlehem.  The  views 
of  the  site  of  Shekomeko,  of  Indian  Pond  and  Wechquad- 
nach,  were  taken  by  Mr.  George  F.  Bensell,  a  meritorious 
young  artist  of  Philadelphia,  who  accompanied  a  party  ot 
exploration  in  June  last,  and  who  also  was  present  at  the 
dedication.  Messrs.  Lossing  &  Barrett,  of  New  York, 
executed  the  engravings.  Mr.  Henry  C.  Wetmore,  repre- 
sentative of  Duchess  County,  in  the  State  Senate  of  New 
York,  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the  subject  of  this 
volume,  and  was  present  at  the  interesting  ceremonies  on 
the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  second  monument. 

W.  C.  REICHEL. 


Bethlehem,  Pa.,  December  15th,  1859. 


MORAYIANS 


NEW  YORK  AND  CONNECTICUT 


There  is  scarcely  any  history  which  enlists  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  reader  more  than  that  of  the  Moravian  Mis- 
sion among  the  North  American  Indians/  It  relates  to 
an  unfortunate  people ;  to  a  scattered  people  whose  de- 
plorable national  calamities  have,  at  last,  excited  the 
commiseration  of  even  their  destroyers.  There  is,  per- 
haps, no  sadder  history  written  ;  for,  it  is  a  continuous 
recital  of  hojie  and  success  resulting  in  disappointment  and 
disaster ;  a  quickly- changing  scene,  in  which  noon-day 
clouds  inevitably  darken  the  sky  that  was  serene  and  clear 
in  the  morning's  dawn,  and  storms  sweep  over  fields  white 
for  the  harvest,  rudely  scattering  the  ripening  grain  to  the 
winds  of  heaven.  And  yet,  the  zeal,  the  devotion,  the  pa- 
tience and  Christian  love  that  mark  the  unobtrusive  efforts 
of  those  messengers  of  peace  to  the  red  man,  could  not  have 
been  greater,  had  the  narrative  of  their  labors  come  down 
to  us  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  triumphs. 

It  was  under  peculiar  difficulties  that  the  Moravian  mis- 
sionary commenced  his  labors  among  the  nomads  of  this 
western  world ;  and  by  these  difficulties  only  can  the  mag- 
nitude of  his  work  be  fairly  estimated. 

•  History  of  the  Mission  of  the  United  Brethren  among  the  Indians  in 
North  America,  by  George  Henry  Loskiel,  1788.     Translated  from  the 
German  by  Christian  Ignatius  Latrobe.     London,  lT9i. 
2 


6  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

At  a  time  when  almost  the  last  desperate  struggle  for 
sovereignty  was  being  maintained  by  the  aboriginal  pos- 
sessors of  the  soil  against  the  aggressive  Anglo-Saxon,  his 
sacred  calling  was  unable  to  secure  him  against  the  op- 
probrium of  tlie  world.  The  sympathies  of  his  fellow-men 
were  estranged  from  the  cause  of  Christian  philanthropy  in 
which  he  toiled.  His  designs  were  misapprehended,  his 
actions  misconstrued,  and  he  himself  was  reviled  for  casting 
his  lot  with  a  hated  race,  around  which  romance  had  not 
yet  thrown  a  halo  of  glory,  that  might  have  shed  a  world- 
renowned  lustre  on  his  own  humble  efforts.  He  stood  de- 
fenceless between  the  white  man  and  the  Indian,  an  object 
of  twofold  suspicion,  and  yet  the  friend  of  both.  Though 
striving  to  live  in  peace  with  all  men  for  the  sake  of  the 
cause  that  was  designed  to  promote  the  interests  of  human- 
ity, and  the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer,  he  was  drawn  from 
his  cherished  seclusion,  into  the  convulsions  that  changed 
the  political  relations  of  the  land  in  which  he  was  a  stranger 
and  a  sojourner.  If  his  position  had  before  been  personally 
a  dangerous  one,  it  now  became  involved  in  most  embar- 
rassing perplexities.  Carried  away  by  their  first  love  for 
freedom,  and  dazzled  by  the  brilliant  successes  that  promised 
to  secure  independence  to  a  tributary  colony,  its  inhabitants 
forgot  the  claims  of  the  missionary  while  they  magnified  those 
of  the  patriot.  In  the  excitement  of  victory  over  a  mighty 
nation  of  the  earth,  the  phenomenon  of  a  fellow-being  con- 
tending against  spiritual  powers  for  a  heavenly  kingdom, 
appeared  to  them  inexplicable  ;  and  it  was  left  for  a  more 
dispassionate  generation  to  justify  the  course  of  the  Mora- 
vian missionary  in  the  political  disturbances  that  agitated 
this  country  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century. 

Apart  from  such  baneful  external  influences,  the  mission 
in  which  he  engaged  was  one  of  more  than  ordinary  diffi- 
culty.    It  was  to  a  dangerous  people — to  a  race,  whose 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


angry  passions  bad  been  rendered  fierce  above  control  in 
the  school  of  merciless  oppression.    None  knew  the  failings 
of  the  Indian  better  than  he ;  none  made  more  melancholy 
experience  of  his  vindictiveness,  of  the  instability  of  his 
character,  and  of  his  proncness  to  gross  transgression.     He 
saw  his  brethren  and  sisters,  wife  and  children,  fall  victims 
to   the  fatal   tomahawk.      It  was  here  that    his  patience 
needed  divine  support ;  yet  even  here  we  see  him  inspired 
with  enthusiasm  for  the  rude  savage,  an  enthusiasm  that 
led  him  to  return  good  for  evil,  and  to  throw  the  mantle 
of  charity  over  all  his  faults.     We  find  him  sheltering  the 
exile  in  his  home;  furnishing  him  with  lands  and  farms, 
with  cattle  and  houses  and  mills,  and  working  by  his  side 
in  the  field.    Time  after  time,  with  staff"  in  hand,  he  shared 
the  sorrows   of  the  wanderer.     Turning  his  back  on  the 
comforts  and  refinements  of  civilized  life,  he  leads  the  way 
into  inhospitable  wilds,  in  the  vain  hope  of  finding,  far  from 
the  habitations  of  men,  peace  and  rest  for  his  persecuted 
brother.     His  life  is  one  of  continual  uncertainty,  and  he 
a  pilgrim   on  the  face  of  the  earth.     He  becomes  inured 
to  the  vicissitudes  of  climate  and  seasons ;    familiar  with 
the  storm  that  roars  through  the  primeval  forest,  with  the 
dangers  of  the  swollen  stream,  with  the  fatigues  of  the  port- 
age, with  hunger  and  thirst,  with  the  whoop  of  the  lurking 
savage,  with  the  camps  of  hostile  armies,  with  imprisonment, 
and  with  the  blood  of  innocently  butchered  brethren.     Yet 
he  remains  true  to  himself,  and  true  to  the  cause  of  his 
Master,  unconsciously  exhibiting  to  posterity  an  example 
of  intrepidity,  of  constancy,  of  Christian  heroism,  and  faith 
in  the  all- ruling  providence  of  God,  that  well  may  claim  the 
astonishment  and  admiration  of  mankind.     For  more  than 
a  century  has  the  Moravian  missionary  thus  hoped  against 
hope  in  his  mission  among  the  aborigines  of  this  country, 
and  yet,  at  the  present  day,  we  find  him  clinging  with  a 


8  MORAVIANS   IX   NEW   YORK 

tenacity  of  purpose  that  is  almost  iinprecedented  to  a  lin- 
gering few  that  have  outlived  the  destiny  of  their  race,  and 
leading  them  to  the  waters  of  Life  in  the  pasture  lands  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  along  the  western  tributaries  of  the 
Mississippi. 

The  first  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Moravian  Brethren  to 
bring  the  Gospel  to  the  Indians  of  our  country  were  made 
in  Georgia,  whither  a  colony  had  immigrated  from  Saxony 
in  1735.  They  were  directed  to  the  Creeks  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Savannah,  but  were  of  short  continuance,  ter- 
minating with  the  removal  of  the  Brethren,  on  account  of 
political  difficulties,  from  Georgia  to  Pennsylvania  in  1740. 

In  this  same  year,  Christian  H.  Hauch  reached  New 
York  from  Marienborn,  in  Wetteravia,  Germany.  He  was 
by  a  remarkable  providence  shown  a  field  of  labor,  and 
opened  the  mission  among  the  Mohicans  and  kindred  tribes 
of  New  York  and  Connecticut.  Three  converts  from  this 
people,  Shabash,  Tabawanemen,  and  Kiak,  the  first  fruits 
from  the  North  American  Indians,  were  received  into  the 
Church  of  Christ  by  baptism  on  the  22d  of  February,  1742, 
and  in  September  following  the  first  congregation  of  believ- 
ing Indians  was  organized  at  the  village  of  Shekomeko  by 
Count  Zinzendorf,  at  that  time  on  a  visit  to  his  brethren 
in  Bethlehem  and  elsewhere  in  Pennsylvania.  From  here 
the  rays  of  Gospel  light  penetrated  the  depths  of  the 
forest  eastward,  illuminating  valley,  and  lake,  and  mountain 
within  the  borders  of  Wechquadnach,  Pachgatgoch,  and 
Potatik.  Men  of  like  zeal  with  himself  (Biittner,  Mack, 
Pyrlseus,  Senseman,  Bruce,  Post,  Shaw,  Bishop,  and  others) 
were  sent  to  Ranch's  assistance.  The  mission  became  one 
of  promise.  Four  years,  however,  had  scarcely  elapsed 
when  a  cloud  gathered  along  the  horizon  of  their  peaceful 
seclusion,  and  bigotry  and  avarice  exiled  both  convert  and 
missionary — the   one   from  his  ancestral  home,  the  other 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  9 

from  scenes  that  were  endeared  to  him  as  having  witnessed 
the  wonderful  displays  of  a  most  gracious  Providence. 

This  first  exodus  of  Moravian  Indians  from  Shekomeko 
occurred  in  the  spring  of  1746.  Others  gradually  repaired 
to  Bethlehem  from  Wechquadnach  and  Pachgatgoch,  all  of 
whom  were  received  with  open  arms,  and  in  turn  rested  in 
the  ''  huts  of  peace"  (Friedenshiitten).  The  scattered  flock 
that  preferred  persecution  to  exile  was  visited  in  its  beloved 
haunts  by  the  faithful  missionary  as  late  as  1764.  Pach- 
gatgoch was  the  last  Moravian  station  among  the  Wani- 
panoags  of  Connecticut,  and  here  was  concluded  the  mission 
among  the  Indians  north  of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  exodus  from  Shekomeko  and  the  adjacent  villages 
led  to  the  commencement  of  an  Indian  settlement  on  lands 
purchased  by  the  Moravian  Brethren  for  this  special  pur- 
pose, a  short  day's  journey  northwest  of  Bethlehem,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Mahony  Creek  with  the  Lehigh,  or  west 
branch  of  the  Delaware.  This  was  late  in  1746.  Hither 
were  gathered  into  one  fold  Mohicans,  Wampanoags,  and 
Dela wares,  which  latter  people  had  been  a  peculiar  object 
of  the  Brethren's  Christian  labors  since  their  first  arrival  in 
Pennsylvania.  The  prospect  now  again  brightened.  There 
was  respite  from  persecution,  and  a  haven  safe  from  the 
storm.  The  temporal  and  spiritual  condition  of  their  foster- 
children  in  the  "  huts  of  grace"  called  forth  grateful  ac- 
knowledgments on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  of  the 
Divine  blessing,  and  Gnadenhiitten  became  the  "  crown  of 
the  Indian  mission." 

But  the  night  of  the  24th  of  November,  1755,  dispelled 
the  hopes  and  realizations  of  nine  years  of  anxious  toil.  It 
was  on  this  evening  that  the  mission-house  on  the  Mahony 
was  beset  by  hostile  Indians,  and  eleven  of  the  Brethren 
and  Sisters  were  either  butchered  by  the  tomahawk  or 
burned  in  the  conflagration  of  their  common  home. 


10  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

Bethlehem  again  became  the  asylum  of  the  Indian. 
Here,  safe  from  "  wars"  and  the  "  rnmor  of  wars,"  the 
fugitives  from  the  smoking  ruins  of  Gnadenhiitten  passed 
the  winter  of  1756.  In  the  following  year,  they  were  trans- 
ferred to  a  tract  of  land  near  by,  and  the  settlement  was 
called  Nain.  Wechquetank,  twenty-four  miles  to  the  north, 
was  begun  in  1760,  and  thus  there  were  at  this  period  two 
flourishing  congregations  of  Christian  Indians  in  connection 
with  the  Moravian  Church.  But  this  prosperity  was  short- 
lived, for  on  the  renewal  of  hostilities  between  the  Indians 
of  the  frontier  and  the  English  colonies  in  1763,  both 
settlements  became  objects  of  unjust  suspicion,  and  their 
inhabitants  threatened  with  extermination.  It  was  at  this 
critical  juncture  that  the  government  of  Pennsylvania 
afforded  a  place  of  safety  to  the  persecuted  Moravian 
Indians  in  the  barracks  of  Philadelphia. 

The  year  1765  is  the  first  of  twenty-seven  years  of  wan- 
derings through  the  wildernesses  of  Northwestern  Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio,  and  the  lake  countries,  which  finally  brought 
the  weary  remnant  to  a  resting-place  and  home  on  British 
soil.  David  Zeisberger  was  the  Moses  of  this  toilsome 
exodus.  Henceforward,  for  years,  the  joys  and  sorrows 
of  the  mission  are  identified  with  this  hero,  on  whom  had 
descended  the  mantle  of  the  fathers  who  were  fallen  asleep, 
and  a  double  portion  of  their  spirit.  In  early  manhood, 
while  Mack  and  others  were  preaching  Christ  to  the  Mohi- 
cans and  Delawares,  Zeisberger  had  already  done  eminent 
service  for  his  church  in  its  renewed  overtures  with  the  Six 
Nations,  in  view  of  opening  a  mission  within  their  borders. 
He  had  frequently  preached  in  their  dependencies  on  the 
Susquehanna  (Shamokin,  Wyoming,  etc.),  where  there 
abode  a  mixed  population  of  Delawares,  Nanticokes,  Sha- 
wanose,  Mohawks,  and  Senecas,  and  also  had  visited  the 
great  council  fire  of  the  Iroquois  at  Onondaga  to  treat  with 


AND  CONNECTICUT.  11 

them  on  tlic  ground  of  the  covenant  their  fathers,  in  174*2, 
had  made  witli  Zinzendorf.  In  1763  we  find  him  on  the 
north  brancli  of  the  Susquehanna  at  tlie  Indian  village  of 
Machwihilusing.  Hither  it  was  that  rrovidcncc,  in  1765, 
directed  the  remains  of  the  Nain  and  Wechquetank  con- 
gregations. Here  "  huts  of  peace"  (Friedenshiitten)  were 
a  second  time  reared,  and  the  wilderness  was  made  to  blos- 
som as  the  rose.  Friedenshiitten  became  the  mother  con- 
gregation, and  the  centre  of  missionary  operations  in  a 
new  field  of  labor.  In  1767,  Zeisberger  left  this  frontier 
post  of  Christianity,  and  penetrated  to  the  sources  of  the 
Ohio,  where  the  white  man  was  a  stranger  to  the  forest- 
bound  Indian,  and  at  Goshgoshunk,  a  Delaware  village,  he 
planted  the  standard  of  the  cross.  The  result  of  his  suc- 
cesses here  was  the  establishment  of  Friedenstadt  (town  of 
peace),  on  Beaver  Creek,  in  1770.  Thus,  there  were  again 
two  flourishing  congregations  of  Moravian  Indians  in  the 
wilds  of  Northwestern  Pennsylvania,  in  charge  of  the  mis- 
sionaries Zeisberger,  Ileckewelder,  Schmick,  Rothe,  and 
others.  But  the  lands  on  which  they  dwelt,  and  which  the 
labor  of  their  hands  had  transformed  into  gardens,  were 
seized,  and  they  themselves  compelled  to  wander  in  quest 
of  new  homes.  Led  on  by  their  teachers,  they  settled,  in 
1772,  on  the  banks  of  the  Muskingum,  successively  at 
Schoenbrunn,  Gnadenhiitten,  Lichtenau,  and  Salem.  Re- 
mote from  the  haunts  of  men,  and  the  strife  and  turmoil  of 
the  world,  they  promised  themselves  a  long  season  of  repose 
far  away  in  the  green  forests  of  the  virgin  AVest.  But  Pro- 
vidence mysteriously  designed  them  to  pass  through  new 
and  greater  tribulations.  The  Moravian  Indians  were  sus- 
pected of  plotting  against  British  interests  in  the  struggle 
of  the  colonies  for  independence.  On  the  10th  of  August, 
1781,  a  body  of  three  hundred  Wyandot  warriors  in  the 
English  service,  were  accordingly  sent  from  Fort  Detroit, 


12  MORAVIANS    IN   NEW   YORK 

against  the  Muskingum  mission.  The  missionaries  were 
taken  prisoners,  their  houses  pillaged,  and  their  spiritual 
children  ordered  to  follow  them  in  exile.  "Never  did 
Indians  leave  a  country  with  more  regret,  never  did  they 
leave  more  beautiful  settlements."  On  the  11th  of  October, 
they  reached  the  Sandusky,  where  they  were  wantonly  left 
to  find  a  precarious  subsistence  in  an  inhospitable  wilder- 
ness. Hence,  the  missionaries  were  summoned  to  Fort 
Detroit,  to  answer  the  charges  that  had  been  preferred 
against  them.  Their  honorable  acquittal  was  no  equivalent 
for  the  injuries  entailed  on  the  cause  in  which  they  were 
engaged.  On  the  22d  of  November,  they  were  again  in 
the  midst  of  their  flock  on  the  Sandusky. 

The  year  1782  opened;  a  year  ever  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  the  Moravian  mission,  and  stained  with  the  blood 
of  innocents  on  the  page  of  history.  The  winter  was  un- 
commonly severe,  and  famine  stared  the  dwellers  on  the 
Sandusky  in  the  face.  Three  hundred  acres  of  maize  which 
they  had  planted  and  hoed  in  the  fields  of  the  Muskingum, 
stood  untouched  in  the  husks,  save  what  had  fallen  to  the 
share  of  the  famished  squirrel,  and  the  hungry  turkey. 
This  they  resolved  to  harvest.  It  was  the  lawful  earnings 
of  their  hands.  But  the  white  man  thought  otherwise.  He 
ignored  the  rights  of  the  Indian,  deeming  him  the  Canaanite 
of  the  land,  and,  like  the  Canaanite  of  old,  ordained  to  utter 
extermination.  Early  in  the  month  of  March,  a  party  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  lawless  characters,  principally  from 
the  banks  of  the  Monongahela,  in  Western  Pennsylvania, 
marched  to  the  Muskingum,  and  fell  on  the  inoffensive 
Christian  Indians  at  Gnadenhlitten.  Ninety-six  of  their 
number  magnified  the  name  of  the  Lord  by  patient  martyr- 
dom. "  The  record  of  this  atrocious  deed  is  on  high,  March 
8th,  1782." 

The  Indian  congregation  saved  itself  from  total  annihila- 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  13 

tioii  only  by  fliglit  and  dispersion.  In  July  of  the  following;- 
year,  the  fugitives  were  once  more  collected  on  the  Chip- 
peway  land,  and,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Huron  River, 
'•  huts  of  srrace"  were  built  for  a  fourth  time.  "  Gnaden- 
hiitten"  was  maintained  with  difficulty  for  four  years. 

In  April  of  1786,  a  remnant  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
souls,  the  entire  congregation  of  believing  Indians,  once 
more  set  out  in  quest  of  a  home,  crossed  Lake  Erie,  and 
settled  at  Pilgerruh  (pilgrim's  rest)  on  the  Cuyahoga.  But 
the  weary  pilgrim  found  no  rest.  Driven  from  place  to 
place,  an  exile  from  the  land  of  his  "  great  Father,"  he 
found,  in  1791,  a  resting-place  for  the  sole  of  his  foot  on 
British  soil. 

In  1792,  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Thames  lliver  in  Canada 
West  was  assigned  to  the  Moravian  Indians  by  the  British 
government,  and,  in  May  of  the  same  year,  the  settlement 
of  Fail-field  was  commenced. 

Five  years  later,  a  colony  of  thirty-three  Indian  brethren 
and  sisters,  led  by  the  venerable  Zeisberger,  set  out  from 
Fairfield  for  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Muskingum.  Here 
Goshen  was  founded  in  1797.  It  was  the  thirteenth  settle- 
ment commenced  by  this  missionary  hero  in  the  Indian 
country,  and  here,  in  1808,  he  closed  his  earthly  pilgrim- 
age of  eighty-eight  years,  sixty-two  of  which  had  been 
spent  in  the  work  of  the  Gospel  among  the  aborigines  of 
this  country.  "  As  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  its  season,  so 
he  came  to  the  grave  in  a  full  age,  and  entered  into  the 
joy  of  his  Lord."     Goshen  was  maintained  until  1821. 

In  the  mean  time,  several  attempts  had  been  made  to  open 
missions  on  the  borders  of  civilization  in  the  Indian  country; 
on  the  Wabash,  between  1801  and  1806  ;  among  the  Chip- 
peways  of  Lake  St.  Clair  between  1802  and  1806  ;  and  on 
Lake  Erie  between  180-i  and  1809.  These  undertakings 
were  unsuccessful. 


14:  MORAVIANS   IN   Nf^W   YORK 

The  congregation  at  Fairfield  had  enjoyed  twenty  years 
of  undisturbed  quiet,  when  tlie  war  of  1812  involved  it  in 
unexpected  calamity.  The  Moravian  settlement,  mistaken 
for  an  English  military  post,  was  pillaged  and  burned  to 
the  ground  by  American  troops.  The  fugitives  collected 
around  their  teacher  near  Lake  Ontario,  where  they  main- 
tained themselves  until  the  conclusion  of  peace  in  1815, 
when  they  returned  to  the  Thames,  on  the  south  bank  of 
which  they  built  New  Fairfield.  This  station  is  maintained 
to  the  present  day. 

In  July  of  1837,  two  hundred  brethren  and  sisters  emi- 
grated from  New  Fairfield  to  the  far  West,  and,  in  the 
following  year,  Westfield  was  commenced  on  the  river 
Kansas,  within  the  limits  of  what  was  then  the  Indian  ter- 
ritory. In  1853,  their  right  to  the  soil  being  disputed,  our 
Delaware  brethren  were  compelled  to  commence  a  new 
settlement,  and  at  present  a  lingering  remnant  is  still  under 
the  care  of  a  missionary  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the  State 
of  Kansas. 

But  the  Delaware  mission  is  not  the  only  one  conducted 
by  the  Moravian  Church  among  the  Indians  of  this  country. 

In  1801,  a  mission  was  opened  among  the  Cherokees  of 
North  Georgia  by  Abraham  Steiner.  Spring  Place  and 
Ochgalogy  became  flourishing  congregations.  The  names 
of  Byhan,  Gambold,  and  Smith,  are  associated  with  the 
prosperous  days  of  this  mission.  In  1838,  on  the  removal 
of  the  Cherokee  Nation  beyond  the  Mississippi,  the  mis- 
sionary  followed  his  little  congregation  to  the  wilds  of 
western  Arkansas,  and  here  at  the  present  day  the  word  of 
life  is  preached  to  Moravian  Cherokees  at  New  Springfield, 
Canaan,  and  Mount  Zion.  According  to  the  latest  accounts, 
four  hundred  souls,  under  the  care  of  nine  missionaries,  are 
in  church-fellowship  with  the  Moravian  Indian  mission. 

It  is  to  the  earlier  years  of  this  remarkable  Christian 


AN"D   CONNECTICUT.  15 

enterprise,  to  the  mission  amon^r  the  "  New  England  In- 
dians," tlie  Mohicans  of  Eastern  New  York,  and  the  Wam- 
panoags  of  Connecticut,  that  the  following  pages  relate. 
Second  in  point  of  incident  to  no  succeeding  period  of  tlie 
history  of  which  they  form  a  part,  these  first  attempts  of 
the  Moravian  missionaries  to  convert  to  the  Gospel  the 
Indian  of  this  country,  are  peculiarly  interesting,  in  as  far 
as  they  are  characterized  by  the  display  of  venture,  intre- 
pidity, and  sacrifice,  that  justly  immortalize  the  labors  of 
the  sturdy  pioneer. 

Led  by  these  considerations,  and  with  the  design  of 
perpetuating  the  remembrance  of  the  bi'ave  and  good,  the 
Moravian  Historical  Society  engaged  in  the  movement,  of 
which  this  volume  purposes  to  give  an  account,  namely,  the 
erection  of  monuments  on  the  localities  of  the  old  stations 
at  Shekomeko,  in  the  town  of  Pine  Plains,  Duchess  County, 
New  York,  and  Wechquadnach,  in  the  town  of  Sharon, 
Litchfield  County,  Connecticut. 

At  a  distance  from  the  seat  of  the  Moravian  Church  at 
Bethlehem  and  elsewhere  in  Pennsylvania,  and  accessible 
only  by  tedious  journeying,  before  the  days  of  the  steamboat 
and  locomotive,  on  the  abandonment  of  the  mission  in  that 
section  of  the  country  communication  with  these  two  places 
gradually  ceased;  they  were  lost  sight  of,  though  not  for- 
gotten, and  the  present  generation  deemed  their  re-discovery 
almost  hopeless. 

In  1854  and  1855  there  appeared  a  series  of  articles, 
from  unknown  writers,  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York 
Observer,  purporting  to  remove  the  veil  of  uncertainty 
that  rested  on  the  precise  localities  of  these  landmarks  of 
the  past.  The  fourth  of  the  essays,  which  was  published 
in  the  Observer^  of  June  22d,  1855,  as  has  recently  been 
ascertained,  was  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  AVilliam  J. 
McCord,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  had  resided  for  a 


16  JIORAVIAXS   IX    NEW   YORK 

number  of  years  in  the  town  adjacent  to  that  in  which  once 
lay  the  village  of  Shekomeko. 

The  writer  well  remembers  with  what  welcome  this  news 
from  the  lost  was  received  by  the  members  of  the  Church 
to  which  it  referred,  and  more  especially  by  one  of  its  cler- 
gymen, who,  at  that  time,  was  in  the  midst  of  researches 
which,  since  then,  have  been  completed  in  the  "  History  of 
the  American  Branch  of  the  United  Brethren." 

In  the  beginning  of  the  present  year,  the  Moravian  pub- 
lic was  again  gratified  by  intelligence  from  the  scenes  of 
Ilauch's  and  Biittner's  labors — from  Shekomeko  and  Wech- 
quadnach.  A  copy  of  a  pamphlet,  bearing  the  name  of 
the  former  Indian  station,  published  at  Poughkeepsie,  in 
the  summer  of  1858,  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  member  of  the 
recently  established  Moravian  Historical  Society.  By  this 
gentleman  it  was  circulated  among  the  members  of  that 
association,  and  soon  appeared,  in  part,  in  the  columns  of 
the  weekly  journal  of  the  Moravian  church. 

The  author  of  the  able  and  interesting  paper,  entitled 
"  Shekomeko,"  is  the  Rev.  Sheldon  Davis,  an  Episcopalian 
clergyman,  resident  at  Pleasant  Valley,  seven  miles  north- 
east of  Poughkeepsie.  As  early  as  1850,  his  attention 
was  called  to  the  existence  of  certain  memorials  of  the 
old  Brethren's  Mission  in  Duchess  County,  New  York, 
where,  at  that  time,  he  was  acting  as  missionary  under 
the  direction  of  the  Convocation,  to  whom  he  was  wont 
to  submit  quarterly  reports.  In  one  of  these,  read  at  St. 
James's  Church,  Hyde  Park,  April  25th,  1850,  occurs  the 
following :  "  It  may  be  mentioned  as  an  interesting  fact  in 
connection  with  the  missionary  operations  of  the  county, 
that  the  missionary  has  been  able  to  identify  a  point,  about 
two  miles  south  of  Pine  Plains,  as  the  location  of  one  of 
the  earliest  Moravian  missionary  establishments  among  the 
Indians  in  this  county.     It  is  said  to  have  been  broken  up 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  17 

by  military  interference  diiring  the  old  "  French  AVar." 
Some  memorials,  however,  still  remain,  which  may  hereafter 
afford  matters  of  interest."  And,  again,  in  a  report  read 
at  Zion  Chnrcli,  Wappingcr's  Creek,  July  2oth,  1850,  oc- 
curs the  following:  "In  the  course  of  liis  labors,  during  the 
past  six  months,  the  missionary  has  been  able  to  bring  to 
light  many  most  interesting  and  valuable  facts  relative  to 
the  Moravian  missionary  efforts  among  the  Indians  within 
the  limits  of  this  county,  and  along  the  line  of  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts  —  facts,  that  had  been  well-nigh  for- 
gotten, the  generation  ha\ing  })assed  away  which  was 
familiar  with  them,  or,  when  recorded  in  books,  recorded 
in  connection  with  names  which  would  not  now  at  all  be 
recognized  by  any  person  not  living  upon  the  spot. 

"At  a  place,  then  called  Shekomeko,  about  two  miles 
south  of  Pine  Plains,  was  the  first  Moravian  missionary 
establishment  among  the  Indians  in  North  America.  Here 
was  a  church  and  a  burying-ground,  in  which  was  stand- 
ing, until  a  few  years,  the  gravestone  of  the  principal  mis- 
sionary. Two  other  burying-grounds  have  been  identified, 
in  each  of  which  were  standing,  until  recently,  the  grave- 
stones of  Moravian  missionaries — one  in  a  perfect  state  of 
preservation,  and  the  other  broken  and  nearly  ruined." 

With  untiring  diligence  Mr.  Davis  prosecuted  the 
investigations  into  which  he  had  entered,  manifesting  as 
much  interest  in  their  success  as  if  they  related  to  the 
history  of  his  own  church.  The  result  of  his  praiseworthy 
labors  was  made  the  subject  of  a  lecture — '=The  Moravians 
in  Duchess  County" — delivered  before  the  "  Pleasant  Valley 
Lyceum"  on  the  31st  of  January,  1854 — read  in  the  village 
of  Sharon,  Connecticut,  on  the  9th  of  March,  of  the  same 
year,  and  published  in  pamphlet  form  under  the  title  of 
"  Shekomeko."  at  Poughkeepsie,  in  May  of  1858.  It  would 
thus  appear  that  Mr.  Davis  was  tlie  first  to  call  the  atten- 


18  MORAVIANS   IX   NEW   YORK  AND   CONNECTICUT. 

tion  of  the  public,  and  tliat  of  the  members  of  the  Moravian 
Church,  to  the  present  condition  of  the  old  Mission  stations 
in  New  York  and  Connecticut,  after  having  succeeded  in 
identifying  their  localities  by  judiciously  reconciling  the 
voice  of  tradition  with  the  page  of  written  history. 


PEEFACE. 


The  compilation  of  tlic  following  pafj:es  is  a  tribute  of  affectionate 
regard  and  admiration  for  the  singular  Christian  faithfulness  and  zeal,  as 
well  as  general  soundness  in  Gospel  doctrine,  by  which  the  Moravians  have 
been  distinguished.  Xor  has  the  striking  fact  been  without  its  special 
interest,  that  from  the  beginning  of  their  very  extraordinary  and  most 
successful  missionary  movements  they  have  ever  been  regarded  with  favor 
by  the  authorities  of  the  Church  of  England  as  an  ancient  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  deriving  its  Apostolic  authority  at  all  times  entirely 
independent  of  Rome,  from  the  primitive  times.  The  attention  of  the 
writer  was  first  called  to  these  interesting  memorials  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  as  missionary  of  Duchess  County ;  and  the  labor  of  collecting  them 
has  been  more  than  rewarded  in  the  contemplation  of  such  noble  examples 
of  Christian  devotion  and  Christian  faith,  and  the  manifest  evidence  of  the 
Divine  blessing. 

The  principal  books  consulted  have  been — 

G.  H.  Loskiel's  History  of  the  United  Brethren, 

Holmes's 

Crantz's 

Life  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  by  Spangenberg, 

Heckewelder's  Narrative, 

Southey's  Life  of  Wesley,  and  the 

Documentary  History  of  New  York,  volume  III. 

Pleasant  Valley,  May  20th,  1858. 


S  H  E  K  0  M  E  K  O . 


The  memory  of  the  wise  and  good,  of  the  virtuous  and 
just,  of  those  who,  unrewarded  in  this  life,  have  been  willing 
to  labor  and  suffer  for  the  benefit  of  their  fellow-men,  should 
ever  be  held  in  veneration,  and  should  ever  be  cherished  as 
the  most  valuable  heritage  to  those  who  may  afterwards 
profit  by  their  example,  or  reap  the  fruits  of  their  toil. 
All  other  worldly  possessions  are  comparatively  worthless. 
They  decay  and  vanish,  and  ultimately  come  to  nought, 

but 

The  sweet  remembrance  of  the  just 
Shall  flourish  when  they  sleep  in  dust. 

It  is  with  reference  to  such  sentiments  as  these  that  we 
propose  to  call  attention  to,  and  to  gather  together  for 
preservation,  the  scattered  memorials  of  the  ancient  Mora- 
vian mission  at  Shekomeko,  the  first  successful  Moravian 
mission  to  the  heathen  in  North  America,  and  among  the 
first  efforts  of  a  body  of  men,  who,  above  all  others,  have 
distinguished  themselves  for  their  missionary  zeal,  and  for 
the  extraordinary  success  of  their  missionary  labors. 

AVe  would  not  willingly  forget — we  would  rather  embalm 
in  our  memories  for  perpetual  preservation — the  whole 
record  of  this  worthy  and  noble  people.  But  we  feel  espe- 
cially bound,  as  far  as  we  are  able,  to  rescue  from  oblivion 
such  notices  of  their  noble  and  self-denying  deeds  as  form  a 
part  of  the  history  of  our  own  immediate  vicinity,  and  to 

3 


22  SHEKOMEKO. 

appropriate  as  peculiarly  our  own,  both  as  respects  duty 
and  privilege,  the  memory  of  good  examples,  and  generous 
conduct,  and  self-denying  devotion  to  the  good  of  others, 
on  the  part  of  those  to  whom  we  have  succeeded,  and  with 
whose  names,  in  the  order  of  time,  on  the  ever-unfolding 
scroll  of  history,  whether  written  or  unwritten — doubtless 
written  in  the  annals  of  Him  who  holds  our  times  in  his 
hand,  our  names  shall  also  be  inscribed. 

Before  entering  upon  the  more  particular  history  of  the 
mission  at  Shekomeko,  we  will  briefly  glance  at  the  pre- 
vious history  of  this  very  remarkable  people. 

The  Moravians  claim,  and  that  claim,  has  never,  by 
intelligent  historians,  been  disputed,  to  have  descended 
from  one  of  the  earliest  churches  founded  by  the  Apostle 
St.  Paul  in  Illyricum  (Uom.  xv.  19),  and  by  the  Apostle 
Titus  in  Dalmatia  (2  Tim.  iv.  10),  viz.:  The  Sclavonian 
branch  of  the  Greek  or  Eastern  Church. 

Christianity  was  introduced  into  Bohemia  and  Moravia 
by  two  Greek  ecclesiastics,  Cyrillus  and  Methodius,  in  the 
ninth  century.  About  this  time  occurred  the  great  schism 
between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  which  has 
continued  to  the  present  day,  and  which  is  now  represented, 
on  the  one  hand,  by  the  Greek  Church  of  Constantinople 
and  Russia  and  their  dependencies,  now  numbering  some 
sixty  or  seventy  millions  of  souls,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
by  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  Church  of  England,  the  Mora- 
vian, and  other  Protestant  Churches. 

The  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Churches  were  thus  unfor- 
tunately placed  between  two  powerful  antagonistic  bodies, 
both  of  whom,  but  especially  the  Church  of  Rome,  never 
scrupled  to  use  the  civil  sword  with  all  its  power  to  enforce 
submission  to  its  decrees,  and  to  compel  obedience  to  the 
doctrines  and  practices  which  it  enjoined.  The  controversy 
arose  in  the  first  place  from  the  infamous  attempt  of  the 


SHEKOMEKO.  23 

Church  of  Rome  to  impose  upon  the  Eastern  Church  by  its 
own  authority  an  alteration  of  the  acknowledged  symbol  of 
Christendom,  the  Nicene  creed,  and  thus  to  pave  the  way 
for  those  subsequent  corruptions  of  primitive  truth  which 
has  indelibly  stamped  upon  the  forehead  of  the  Papacy  the 
mark  of  anti-Christ. 

The  Bohemians  and  Moravians  adhered  to  their  ancient 
faith ;  and  hence  a  long  series  of  the  most  bitter  persecutions 
fell  upon  them  in  order  to  subject  them,  if  possible,  to  the 
Papal  See.  These  persecutions  they  endured  in  common 
with  the  Waldenses  of  France  and  Italy,  Avith  whom,  for 
the  most  part,  they  symbolized  in  doctrine,  and  for  a  con- 
siderable period  were  apparently  identified.  Indeed,  Peter 
Waldo,  the  reputed  founder  of  the  Waldensian  Churches, 
is  said  to  have  finally  settled  and  found  a  grave  in  Bohemia. 
From  this  period  to  the  rise  of  John  Wickliffe,  at  Oxford, 
in  England,  in  the  early  part  of  the  14th  century,  and  of 
John  Huss  and  Jerome,  of  Prague,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
same  century,  the  Bohemians,  Moravians,  and  Waldenses, 
continued  to  suffer  similar  persecutions  until  the  beginning 
of  the  Reformation,  when,  for  the  most  part,  they  became 
absorbed  in  that  general  movement ;  and  though  the  Mora- 
vians in  particular  retained  their  ancient  regimen,  still  they 
are  little  known  in  the  history  of  subsequent  times,  except 
under  the  general  name  of  Protestants,  a  term  which  em- 
braces everything  hostile,  and  often  nothing  but  what  is 
hostile,  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  As  will  appear  in  the 
sequel,  the  Moravian  Church  was  -founded  not  so  much  on 
protest  against  Rome  as  on  the  basis  of  the  original  Chris- 
tian faith. 

With  reference  to  John  Huss,  who  is  particularly  claimed 
by  the  Moravians  as  a  representative  of  their  Church,  but 
who  was  cruelly  martyred  by  the  Papists  in  1415,  and  who, 
among  his  last  words  while  burning  at  the  stake,  as  if  in 


24:  SHEKOilEKO. 

prophetic  foresight  of  the  dawning  Reformation,  exclaimed 
to  his  tormentors,  "  A  hundred  years  hence,  and  you  shall 
answer  for  this  before  God  and  me."  We  cannot  forbear 
to  present  the  testimony  of  the  principal  nobility  of  Bohe- 
mia to  the  Romish  Council  of  Constance  in  that  year. 
"  We  know  not  for  what  purpose  you  have  condemned 
John  Huss,  Bachelor  in  Divinity,  and  preacher  of  the  Gos- 
pel. You  have  put  him  to  a  cruel  and  ignominious  death, 
though  convicted  of  no  heresy.  We  protest  with  the  heart, 
as  well  as  with  the  lips,  that  he  was  honest,  just,  and  ortho- 
dox ;  that  for  many  years  he  had  his  conversation  among 
us  with  godly  and  blameless  manners ;  that  during  these 
many  years  he  explained  to  us  the  Gospel  and  the  books 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  according  to  the  exposition 
of  the  doctors  approved  by  the  Church ;  and  that  he  has 
left  behind  him  writings  in  which  he  denounces  all  heresy. 
He  taught  us  to  detest  everything  heretical.  He  exhorted 
us  to  the  practice  of  peace  and  charity,  and  his  life  exhibited 
a  distinguished  example  of  these  virtues." 

The  name  of  Unitas  Fratrum,  or  United  Brethren,  was 
the  result  of  a  formal  union,  in  1457-60,  between  the 
Moravians,  Bohemians,  and  Waldenses,  all  of  whom  after- 
wards, so  far  as  they  were  distinctly  known,  bore  the  title 
of  United  Brethren,  commonly  called  Moravians.  About 
this  time  lived  Gregory,  afterwards  styled  the  Patriarch  of 
the  Brethren,  and  synods  were  frequently  held  for  the 
promotion  of  their  common  interests.  "  A  most  important 
subject  of  their  deliberations,"  says  one  of  their  historians, 
"  both  at  their  synods  and  at  other  times,  was  how  to 
maintain  a  regular  succession  of  their  ministers  when  those 
who  now  exercised  the  ministry  should  be  removed  by 
death  or  other  causes."  Suitable  measures  were  therefore 
taken  for  this  purpose,  which  have  been  constantly  and 
regularly  sustained  up  to  the  present  day.     The  Moravians, 


SHEKOMEKO.  25 

like  all  the  old  Eastern  Churches,  claim  to  have  practically, 
as  well  as  theoretically,  maintained  an  uninterrupted  suc- 
cession of  bishops  from  the  Apostolic  times.  And,  notwith- 
standing all  the  fiery  trials  and  persecutions  through  which 
they  have  passed,  they  are  well  able  to  establish  that  claim 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all  reasonable  and  intelligent  men.  It 
was  made  a  special  subject  of  investigation  in  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century  by  the  very  learned  and  celebrated  Arch- 
bishop Potter,  whose  deliberate  opinion  is  fully  endorsed 
by  Dr.  Bowden  and  the  great  mass  of  learned  men  in  the 
Church  whose  attention  has  been  called  to  this  subject.^ 

The  Moravians  were  the  first  Christian  society  who 
employed  the  newly-invented  art  of  printing  for  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  a  living  language,  for 
general  distribution  among  the  people.  The  first  edition 
was  published  at  Venice  about  the  year  1470,  being  the 
oldest  printed  version  of  the  Bible  in  any  European  lan- 
guage. Before  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation  by 
Luther,  in  1517,  the  Moravians  had  already  issued  three 
editions  of  the  Scriptures. 

After  this,  however,  they  were  subjected  to  a  series  of 
most  violent  persecutions  until  they  were  apparently  well- 
nigh  extinguished.  In  the  midst  of  the  greatest  trials, 
apprehensions,  and  fears,  yet  hoping  against  hope,  their 
extinction  was  prevented,  and  their  restoration  was  again 
commenced  by  John  Amos  Comenius,  who  was  consecrated 
a  bishop  of  the  Brethren's  Church  in  1632,  and  who  made 
earnest  and   repeated  applications   to   all   the   Protestant 

*  Opinion  of  Archbishop  Potter,  regarding  the  Moravians  in  173*7: 
"  That  the  Moravian  Brethren  were  an  Apostolic  and  Episcopal  Church, 
not  sustaining  any  doctrine  repugnant  to  the  thirty-nine  Articles  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  that  thev,  therefore,  could  not,  with  propriety,  nor 
ought  to  be  hindered  from  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen." — Crantz^s 
History  of  the  United  Brethren,  p.  214. 


26  SHEKOMEKO. 

princes  in  Europe,  and  particularly  to  the  English  nation, 
the  most  powerful  support  of  Protestantism,  to  patronize 
the  suffering  Church  to  which  he  belonged.  Nor  were 
these  applications  unsuccessful.  A  strong  sympathy  was 
created  in  England  in  their  favor,  and  in  1715  an  order 
was  issued  from  the  Privy  Council,  "  For  the  relief  and  for 
preserving  the  Episcopal  Churches  in  Great  Poland  and 
Polish  Russia." 

This  brings  us  down  to  nearly  the  period  when,  under 
the  direction  of  Christian  Uavid  and  Count  Zinzendorf, 
who  had  just  established  themselves  in  Herrnhut,  in  Ger- 
many, the  Moravians  commenced  their  very  remarkable  and 
successful  labors  among  the  heathen,  and  found  their  way 
for  this  purpose  first  to  Greenland,  in  1733,  a  mission 
which  has  been  singularly  prosperous,  and  very  noted  up 
to  the  present  day ;  then  to  the  Creek  and  Cherokee 
Indians  in  Georgia,  under  the  patronage  and  with  the  aid 
of  the  distinguished  George  Whitefield  and  John  Wesley, 
in  1735;  and  then,  after  the  establishment  of  their  colony 
at  Bethlehem,  their  head-quarters  in  this  country,  to  these 
shores,  and  to  the  Mohican  and  Wampanoag  Indians  at 
Shekomeko  and  its  vicinity. 

In  the  language  of  the  late  celebrated  poet  James  Mont- 
gomery, who  was  himself  a  Moravian,  brought  up  an 
orphan  among  the  Moravians,  the  son  of  Moravian  parents, 
who  died  on  the  missionary  field  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
the  largest  and  most  liberal  supporter  of  the  Moravian 
missions — 

'Twas  thus  through  centuries  she  rose  and  fell, 

At  length  victorious  seemed  the  gates  of  hell ; 

But  founded  on  a  rock  which  cannot  move — 

Th'  eternal  rock  of  the  Redeemer's  love — " 

That  Church  which  Satan's  legions  thought  destroyed, 

Her  name  extinct,  her  place  forever  void, 


SHEKOMEKO.  27 

Alive  once  more,  respired  lier  native  air, 
But  found  no  freedom  for  the  voice  of  i)raYer. 
Then  Christian  David,  strengthened  from  above, 
"Wise  as  the  serpent,  harmless  as  the  dove, 
Bold  as  a  lion  on  his  Master's  part. 
In  zeal  a  seraph,  and  a  child  in  heart, 
Plucked  from  the  gripe  of  antiquated  laws 
(Even  as  a  mother  from  the  felon  jaws 
Of  a  lean  wolf  that  bears  her  babe  away. 
With  courage  beyond  nature,  rends  the  prey) 
The  little  remnant  of  that  ancient  race. 
Far  in  Lusatian  wilds  they  found  a  place  ; 
There,  where  the  sparrow  builds  her  busy  nest, 
And  the  clime-changing  swallow  loves  to  rest, 
Thine  altar,  God  of  Hosts  !  there  still  appear 
The  tribes  to  worship  unassailed  by  fear  ; 
Not  like  their  fathers  vexed  from  age  to  age 
By  blatant  bigotry's  insensate  rage  ; 
Abroad  in  every  place,  in  every  hour 
Awake,  alert,  and  ramping  to  devour. 
No,  peaceful  as  the  spot  where  Jacob  slept, 
And  guard  all  night  the  journeying  angels  kept, 
Herrnhut  yet  stands  amidst  her  sheltered  bowers ; 
The  lord  hath  set  his  watch  upon  her  towers. 

Greenland. 

At  Herrnhut,  in  the  province  of  Upper  Lusatia  in  Ger- 
many, was  established  upon  the  estate  of  Count  Zinzendorf, 
a  German  nobleman,  by  the  emigrant  Bohemians  and  Mo- 
ravians, the  Church  to  which,  through  long  ages  of  perse- 
cution and  suffering,  their  ancestors  in  the  faith,  like 
themselves,  had  most  rigidly  and  faithfully  adhered. 

The  point  in  their  organization  to  which  they  attached 
the  utmost  importance  was  strict  adherence  to  the  model 
of  the  Primitive  Church,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice,  as 
it  had  been  retained  by  them,  for  the  most  part,  in  con- 
formity to  the  Greek  ritual,  but  ever  in  determined  and 
uncompromising  hostility  to  the  corruptions  of  Rome,  from 
their  Sclavonian  ancestors  in  the  primitive  times. 


28  SHEKOMEKO. 

The  Moravians  have  always  refused  to  be  recognized  as 
a  sect^  and  have  in  numerous  instances  protested  against 
the  use  of  that  term  as  descriptive  of  their  history  or  cha- 
racter. And  though  several  individuals  have  at  different 
times  attained  to  great  distinction  among  them,  yet  they 
have  steadily  declined  either  to  place  themselves  under  the 
direction  of  any  individual  leader  or  to  be  known  or  recog- 
nized as  the  followers  or  adherents  of  any  one  man. 

The  term  by  which  they  designate  themselves,  and  by 
which  they  prefer  to  be  designated,  is  that  of  United 
Brethren,  as  best  descriptive  of  the  actual  composition  of 
the  body,  and  as  marking  that  great  principle  of  Christian 
unity  on  which  they  so  strongly  insist  as  essential  to  the 
integrity  of  the  Christian  Church. 

In  doctrine  they  are  thoroughly  sound  and  orthodox. 
Their  system  of  faith  would  probably  be  regarded  by  the 
great  mass  of  the  Christian  world  as  less  objectionable 
than,  perhaps,  that  of  any  other  Christian  body  now  in 
existence,  harmonizing  very  closely  with  that  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  avoiding  with  almost  superhuman  exact- 
ness, on  either  hand,  the  peculiar  dogmas  of  the  Lutheran, 
the  Calvinistic,  and  the  Arminian  systems,  as  well  as  the 
gross  pollution,  tyranny,  and  idolatry  of  Rome.  And  its 
practical  working,  as  carried  out  in  their  extensive  and 
very  extraordinary  missionary  operations,  presents  a  pleas- 
ing and  most  interesting  development  of  practical  and 
experimental  piety,  in  close  combination  with  strict  sacra- 
mental observances;  a  careful  preparation,  on  the  one  hand, 
for  the  reception  of  the  appointed  ordinances  of  the  Gospel, 
and  the  full  recognition,  on  the  other,  of  all  those  spiritual 
graces  and  gifts  which  were  uniformly  held  by  all  the  early 
Christian  Churches  to  belong  to  the  sacramental  seals  of 
the  covenant  of  God.  "  The  zeal  of  the  Moravian  body," 
says  William  Wilberforce,  "  is  a  zeal  tempered  with  pru- 


SHEKOMEKO.  29 

dence,  softened  with  meekness,  soberly  aiming  at  great 
ends  by  the  gradual  operation  of  well-adapted  means,  sup- 
ported by  a  courage  which  no  danger  can  intimidate,  and  a 
quiet  constancy  which  no  hardships  can  exhaust." 

It  is  a  remarkable  and  very  significant  circumstance, 
that  the  founder  of  Methodism,  the  Rev.  John  Wesley,  was 
a  contemporary  with  Count  Zinzendorf,  the  distinguished 
Bishop  of  the  Moravians ;  and  that,  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  he  was  intimately  associated  with  the  ]\Io- 
ravians,  and  derived  directly  from  them  the  most  important 
modifications  and  improvements  of  his  religious  character, 
and  the  germs  and  principles  of  that  great  religious  move- 
ment, in  Avhich  he  was  so  prominent  an  actor.  The  Method- 
ist Discipline  was  the  work  of  John  Wesley,  at  a  period 
when  he  was  in  constant  intercourse  with  the  Moravians, 
who,  by  his  own  confession,  became  his  teachers  in  some  of 
the  most  important  Christian  principles,  and  especially  in 
those  which  have  constituted  the  real  strength  of  Methodism 
up  to  the  present  time — the  subjective  influence  of  Christian 
faith  and  hope. 

The  circumstance  which  first  and  most  deeply  afi"ected 
him,  was  the  calmness  and  composure  which  the  Moravians 
were  able  to  maintain  in  scenes  of  the  greatest  danger  and 
terror.  For  example — During  their  passage  from  England 
to  Georgia,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  furious  storm,  and, 
while  the  missionaries  were  at  prayers,  a  tremendous  wave 
struck  the  vessel,  and  poured  a  flood  of  water  over  them. 
Wesley,  thoroughly  alarmed,  cried  out  with  consternation 
and  fear ;  while  the  Moravians,  women  and  children,  as 
well  as  men,  quietly  continued  their  devotions,  with  no  ap- 
parent apprehension  or  fear,  and  as  though  that  which  they 
taught  were  indeed  felt  to  be  a  reality — that  death  was  not 
loss,  but  gain. 

In  many  respects,  also,  Count  Zinzendorf  and  the  Rev. 


80  SHEKOMEKO. 

John  Wesley  were  kindred  spirits.  Both  were  exceedingly 
enthusiastic  in  their  temperament.  Both  were  greatly  in- 
clined to  depend  on  their  feelings  and  mental  impressions 
in  matters  of  religion.  And  both,  from  their  youth,  were 
strongly  inclined  to  dwell  upon  the  supernatural  in  all  the 
affairs  of  life. 

The  Moravians,  from  the  beginning,  have  confined  their 
missionary  labors  to  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  They 
have  always  held  it  un-Christian  to  build  upon  other  men's 
foundations,  or  to  proselyte  from  other  religious  bodies, 
whose  full  Christian  character  they  recognized.  And  hence 
their  establishments  at  Herrnhut  in  Germany,  at  Fulneck  in 
England,  and  at  Bethlehem  in  Pennsylvania,  are  little  else 
than  missionary  colleges  adapted  to  preparation  for  the 
work  which  they  regard  as  more  peculiarly  their  own ;  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen^  and  proclaiming  the 
glad  tidings  of  Gospel  grace  to  those  who  have  never  heard 
of  a  Saviour,  but  are  still  sitting  in  the  region  and  shadow 
of  death. 

After  their  abandonment  of  the  mission  to  the  Indians 
in  Georgia,  which  was  dispersed  on  account  of  political 
troubles  with  the  Spaniards,  the  Moravians  sought  the  op- 
portunity to  engage  in  some  other  field  of  labor,  where  they 
might,  if  possible,  without  interference,  proclaim  the  glad 
tidings  of  salvation  to  the  benighted  savages  of  this,  then 
new  and  sparsely  inhabited  country.  One  of  the  Brethren, 
therefore,  Christian  Henry  Ranch,  was  dispatched  for  this 
purpose  to  New  York. 

The  instructions  given  to  such  missionaries  were  to  this 
effect :  "  That  they  should  silently  observe,  whether  any  of 
the  heathen  had  been  prepared  by  the  grace  of  God  to  re- 
ceive and  believe  the  Word  of  Life.  If  even  only  one  were 
to  be  found,  then  they  should  preach  the  Gospel  to  him ;  for 
God  must  give  to  the  heathen  ears  to  hear  the  Gospel,  and 


SHEKOMEKO.  31 

hearts  to  receive  it,  otherwise  all  their  labors  upon  tliem 
would  be  in  vain.  They  were  to  preach  chiefly  to  such  as 
had  never  heard  of  the  Gospel — not  to  build  upon  founda- 
tions laid  by  others,  nor  to  disturb  their  work,  but  to  seek 
the  outcast  and  the  forsaken," 

Br.  Rauch  arrived  at  New  York,  July  16th,  1740.  where 
he  unexpectedly  met  with  the  Missionary  Frederick  Martin, 
from  St.  Thomas,  West  Indies,  by  whom  he  was  introduced 
to  several  influential  persons,  who,  it  was  thou<^ht.  would 
take  an  interest  in  the  work,  and  from  whom  he  expected 
to  derive  information  with  reference  to  the  Indians,  and 
with  regard  to  the  best  mode  of  gaining  an  influence  with 
them.  But  they,  unanimously,  discouraged  the  attempt, 
telling  him  plainly,  that  every  such  attempt  had  been  thus 
far  an  utter  failure,  that  the  Indians  were,  universally,  of 
such  a  vicious  and  abandoned  character,  that  all  efforts  at 
their  improvement  or  reformation  would  be  dangerous  as 
well  as  utterly  in  vain.  Not  at  all  discouraged,  however, 
by  this  representation,  in  a  manner  characteristic  of  the 
Moravians,  he  proceeded  to  seek  out  an  embassy  of  Mohican 
Indians,  who  had  lately  arrived,  in  New  York,  on  business 
with  the  Colonial  Government,  and  sought  an  opportunity 
of  conversing  with  them,  which  he  found  he  could  do  in  the 
Dutch  language,  with  which,  from  their  intercourse  with 
the  Dutch  settlements  along  the  Hudson  River,  he  found 
that  they  were  slightly  acquainted.  At  his  first  visit,  and, 
indeed,  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  he  found  them  in 
a  state  of  beastly  intoxication  and  terribly  ferocious  in  their 
appearance  and  manners.  Carefully  watching,  however,  an 
opportunity  of  finding  them  sober,  he,  at  last,  addressed 
himself  to  two  of  the  principal  chiefs,  Tschoop  and  Shabash, 
and,  without  ceremony,  asked  them,  whether  they  wished 
for  a  teacher  to  instruct  them  in  the  way  of  salvation. 
Tschoop  answered  in  the  afiirmative,  adding,  that   he  fre- 


32  SHEKOMEKO. 

quently  felt  disposed  to  knoAv  better  things  than  he  did,  but 
knew  not  how  nor  where  to  find  them ;  therefore,  if  any  one 
woukl  come  and  instruct  him  and  his  acquaintance,  he 
should  be  thankful.  Shabash,  also,  giving  his  assent,  the 
missionary  rejoiced  to  hear  the  declaration,  considered  it  as 
a  call  from  God,  and  promised  at  once  to  accompany  them, 
and  to  visit  their  people,  upon  which  "they  declared  him 
to  be  their  teacher  with  true  Indian  solemnity." 

The  place  to  Avhich  the  devoted  missionary,  led  by  these 
wild  savages,  now  directed  his  steps,  was  Shekomeko,  the 
beautiful  Indian  name  of  the  region  now  known  as  Pine 
Plains,  Duchess  County,  New  York.  The  site  of  the  ancient 
Indian  village  was  about  two  miles  south  of  the  present  vil- 
lage, near  "  the  Bethel."  It  was  located  on  the  farm  now 
occupied  by  Mr.  Edward  Hunting,  a  most  beautiful  and 
romantic  spot — such  a  spot  as  those  who  appreciate  the 
nobler  traits  of  the  Indian  character,  would  be  prepared  to 
find  a  chosen  Indian  haunt,  and  where  a  passing  traveller 
might  even  now  almost  be  disappointed  not  to  be  startled  by 
the  native  whoop  of  the  wild  and  ferocious  red  man  of  the 
forest,  or  at  least  to  be  charmed  by  the  sweeter  music  of 
the  Christian  hymns  taught  them  by  the  faithful  Moravians, 
who,  in  their  missionary  huts,  or  in  the  woods  and  groves 
by  which  they  were  surrounded,  often  called  to  mind  the 
favorite  lines  sung  by  the  ancient  Bohemian  brethren : — 

The  rugged  rocks,  the  dreary  wilderness, 
Mountains  and  woods,  are  our  appointed  place ; 
'Midst  storms  and  waves,  on  heathen  shores  unknown, 
We  have  our  temple,  and  serve  our  God  alone. 

The  proper  Indian  name  Shekomeko,  or  Chicomico,  is 
still,  in  good  taste,  retained ;  for  the  stream,  which  rising 
near  the  "Federal  Square,"  runs  in  a  northerly  direction, 
near  the  site  of  the  ancient  Indian  village  Shekomeko,  and 
unites  with  the  Hoelif  Jansen's  Creek,  in  Columbia  County. 


SHEKOMEKO.  33 

Br.  Ranch  arrived  at  Shekomeko,  August  16th,  1740, 
and  was  received,  in  the  Indian  manner,  with  great  kind- 
ness. He  immediately  spoke  to  them  on  tlie  subject  of 
man's  redemption,  and  they  hstened  with  marked  attention. 
But,  on  the  next  day,  when  he  began  to  speak  with  them,  he 
perceived,  with  sorrow,  that  his  words  excited  derision,  and, 
at  last,  they  openly  laughed  him  to  scorn.  Not  discouraged, 
however,  by  this  conduct,  he  persisted  in  visiting  the  In- 
dians daily  in  their  huts,  representing  to  them  the  evil  of 
sin,  and  extolling  the  grace  of  God  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  full  atonement  made  by  him  as  the  only  way  by 
which  they  might  be  saved  from  perdition.  In  these  labors 
he  encountered  many  hardships.  Living  after  the  Indian 
manner,  he  had  no  means  of  transit  from  one  place  to  an- 
other but  on  foot,  through  the  wilderness ;  and  suffering 
from  heat  and  fatigue,  he  was  often  denied  even  the  poor 
shelter  of  an  Indian  hut  for  refreshment  and  rest. 

His  labors,  however,  did  not  long  continue  without  their 
reward.  The  Indians  became  gradually  more  attentive  to 
his  instructions ;  and,  impressed  with  the  devoted  zeal  with 
which  he  evidently  labored  for  their  good,  so  different  from 
the  ordinary  conduct  of  the  white  man  towards  them,  they 
began  to  treat  him  with  greater  confidence  and  respect. 
The  first,  who  discovered  any  serious  earnestness  for  salva- 
tion and  desire  to  be  instructed  in  the  Gospel,  was  Tschoop, 
one  of  the  two  Indians  whom  the  missionary  had  met  in 
New  York — the  greatest  drunkard  and  the  most  outrageous 
villain  among  them.  To  the  great  delight  of  the  missionary, 
he  asked:  "What  effect  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  slain 
on  the  cross,  could  produce  in  the  heart  of  manl"  and  he 
thus  opened  the  way  to  a  full  explanation  of  the  scheme  of 
salvation  through  the  blood  and  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Shabash,  also,  soon  began  to  exhibit  a  similar  interest. 
And  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  convincing  them  of  sin, 


84  SHEKOMEKO. 

became  remarkably  evident  in  the  hearts  of  these  two 
savages.  Their  eyes  would  overflow  with  tears,  whenever 
the  faithful  Moravian  described  to  them  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  our  Redeemer.  This  unusual  effect  of  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  upon  the  poor  and  despised  Indians, 
who  were  commonly  regarded  by  the  whites  as  a  horde  of 
abandoned  and  incorrigible  wretches,  soon  awakened  their 
attention.  And  the  missionary,  who  came  to  preach  to  the 
heathen,  was  now  invited  to  preach  to  the  white  settlers 
also  about  Shekomeko,  whose  language,  and  especially  whose 
vices,  the  degraded  heathen  had  but  learned  too  well. 

The  change  which  took  place  in  the  character  and  con- 
duct of  Tschoop  was  very  striking.  For  he  had  been 
notorious  for  his  wildness  and  recklessness,  and  had  even 
made  himself  a  cripple  by  his  debauchery.  Having  become 
a  preacher  and  an  interpreter  among  the  Indians,  he  re- 
lated, after  the  following  manner,  the  occasion  and  circum- 
stances of  his  conversion : — 

"  Brethren,  I  have  been  a  heathen,  and  have  grown  old 
among  the  heathen,  therefore  I  know  how  the  heathen  think. 
Once  a  preacher  came  and  began  to  explain  to  us  that  there 
was  a  God.  We  answered :  '  Dost  thou  think  we  are  so 
ignorant  as  not  to  know  that  1  Go  back  to  the  place  from 
whence  thou  camest.'  Then,  again,  another  preacher  came 
and  began  to  teach  us  and  to  say,  'You  must  not  steal,  nor 
lie,  nor  get  drunk,  etc'  We  answered :  '  Thou  fool,  dost 
thou  think  that  we  don't  know  that "?  Learn  first  thyself, 
and  then  teach  the  people  to  whom  thou  belongest,  to  leave 
off  these  things ;  for  who  steal  and  lie,  or  who  are  more 
drunken  than  thine  own  people  V  And  thus  we  dismissed 
him.  After  some  time.  Brother  Christian  Henry  Ilauch 
came  into  my  hut  and  sat  down  by  me.  He  spoke  to  me 
nearly  as  follows :  '  I  come  to  you  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
of  heaven  and  earth.     He  sends  to  let  vou  know  that  he  is 


SHEKOMEKO.  35 

willing  to  make  you  liappy,  and  to  deliver  you  from  the 
misery  in  -wliich  you  arc  at  present.  To  this  end  he  be- 
came a  man,  gave  his  life  as  a  ransom  for  man,  and  shed 
his  blood  for  him.'  AVhen  he  had  finished,  he  lay  down 
upon  a  board,  being  fatigued  with  his  journey,  and  fell  into 
a  sound  sleep.  I  then  thought,  what  kind  of  a  man  is  this] 
There  he  lies  and  sleeps;  I  might  kill  him  and  throw  him 
into  the  woods,  and  who  would  regard  if?  But  this  gives 
him  no  concern.  However,  I  could  not  forget  his  words. 
They  constantly  recurred  to  my  mind.  Even  when  I  slept 
I  dreamed  of  that  blood  which  Christ  shed  for  us.  This 
was  something  different  from  what  I  had  ever  before  heard. 
And  I  interpreted  Christian  Henry's  words  to  the  other 
Indians." 

But  now  many  of  the  white  settlers,  who,  while  they  cor- 
rupted and  abused  and  vilified  the  Indians,  lived  upon  their 
vices,  and  made  large  gains  especially  by  their  drunkenness, 
conceived  that  their  interests  would  be  injured  by  the  suc- 
cess of  the  missionary.  They  therefore  stirred  up  the  more 
vicious  Indians,  and  raised  a  persecution  against  him,  and 
even  instigated  them  to  threaten  his  life  if  he  did  not  leave 
the  place.  And  no  pains  were  spared  on  their  part,  to 
hinder  the  good  work  which  he  had  begun  among  them, 
and  even  to  seduce,  if  possible,  into  their  former  wretched 
way  of  life,  the  two  chiefs  whose  remarkable  conversion 
had  become  so  notorious  throughout  the  country. 

In  this  extremity,  the  name  of  John  Rau  should  be  men- 
tioned with  honor,  for  his  noble  and  disinterested  protection 
and  defence  of  the  persecuted  Moravian.  He  became  his 
warm  and  steadfast  friend,  and,  during  all  their  subsequent 
troubles,  he  was  the  faithful  and  untiring  advocate  of  the 
devoted  missionaries ;  and,  until  at  last,  by  an  unjust  and 
persecuting  act  of  the  colonial  government,  they  were 
driven  from  the  province,  he  still  adhered,  and  persuaded 
others  to  adhere  to  their  righteous  cause. 


36  SHEKOMEKO. 

Br.  Rauch,  by  his  meek  and  peaceable  deportment,  his 
prudent  and  cautious  conduct,  and  his  undaunted  courage, 
praying  for  his  enemies,  and  sowing  the  word  of  God  in 
tears,  for  a  time  overcame,  in  great  measure,  all  these  ob- 
stacles. He  regained  the  confidence  of  the  Indians.  He 
repelled  the  envious  slanders  of  his  enemies.  And  his  work 
began  again  to  flourish,  and  to  gather  new  strength  from 
the  manifold  difficulties  and  dangers  with  which  he  had 
been  surrounded.  Several  new  converts  were  made,  and 
the  mission  assumed  a  highly  interesting  and  promising 
character.  In  1741,  it  was  visited  by  Bishop  David 
Nitschman,  the  companion  and  fellow-laborer  of  Count 
Zinzendorf 

About  this  period  was  sent  to  Shekomeko  from  Beth- 
lehem, as  a  companion  and  aid  of  Ranch,  the  gentle  and 
laborious  Gottleib  Btittner,  a  martyr  to  the  blessed  work 
upon  which  he  then  entered,  and  whose  grave  at  Sheko- 
meko has  called  up,  and  preserved  the  memory  of  this  noble 
effort  of  the  Moravians,  and  whose  brief  history  is  of  the 
greatest  interest  in  connection  with  this  mission.  He 
preached  for  the  first  time  to  the  Indians  at  Shekomeko, 
January  14,  1742,  from  Colossians  i.  13:  "Who  hath  de- 
livered us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  hath  translated 
us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son." 

February  11,  1742,  were  ordained  deacons,  at  Oley  in 
Pennsylvania,  by  the  Bishops  David  Nitschman  and  Count 
Zinzendorf,  the  two  missionaries  from  Shekomeko,  Christian 
Henry  Ranch  and  Gottleib  Biittner.  And  on  the  same  day 
Ranch,  who,  as  well  as  Biittner,  had  heretofore  acted  as  a 
layman,  baptized  three  of  the  Indian  converts  who  had  ac- 
companied them  from  Shekomeko ;  the  first  fruits  of  perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  Indian  mission  on  record.^     Tschoop 

*  These  three  Indians  were,  Shabosh,  baptized  Abraham  ;  Seim,  Isaac ; 
and  Kiop,  Jacob. 


SHEKOMEKO.  37 

was  not  among  them.  From  his  lameness  he  had  been 
unable  to  take  the  long  journey. 

He  was,  however,  baptized  at  Shekomeko  on  the  16th  of 
April  following,  receiving  the  Christian  name  of  John. 

The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  letter  dictated  to  the 
brethren  on  the  occasion  above  referred  to  when  his  com- 
panions were  baptized : — 

"I  have  been  a  poor,  wild  heathen,  and  for  forty  years 
as  ignorant  as  a  dog.  I  was  the  greatest  drunkard,  and 
the  most  willing  slave  of  the  devil ;  and,  as  I  knew  nothing 
of  our  Saviour,  I  served  vain  idols,  which  I  now  wish  to 
see  destroyed  with  fire.  Of  this  I  have  repented  with 
many  tears.  When  I  heard  that  Jesus  was  also  the  Saviour 
of  the  heathen,  and  that  I  ought  to  give  him  my  heart,  I  felt 
a  drawing  within  me  towards  him.  But  my  wife  and  chil- 
dren were  my  enemies;  and  my  greatest  enemy  was  my 
wife's  mother.  She  told  me  that  I  was  worse  than  a  dog,  if 
I  no  more  believed  in  her  idol.  But,  my  eyes  being  opened, 
I  understood  that  what  she  said  was  altogether  folly,  for  I 
knew  that  she  had  received  her  idol  from  her  grandmother. 
It  is  made  of  leather,  and  decorated  with  wampum,  and  she, 
being  the  oldest  person  in  the  house,  made  us  worship  it ; 
which  we  have  done  till  our  teacher  came,  and  told  us  of 
the  Lamb  of  God,  who  shed  His  blood,  and  died  for  us 
poor,  ignorant  people. 

"Now,  I  feel  and  believe  that  our  Saviour  alone  can  help 
me,  by  the  power  of  His  blood,  and  no  other.  I  believe 
that  he  is  my  God  and  my  Saviour,  who  died  on  the  cross 
for  me  a  sinner.  I  wish  to  be  baptized,  and  long  for  it 
most  ardently.  I  am  lame,  and  cannot  travel  in  winter, 
but  in  April  or  May  I  will  come  to  you. 

"  I  am  your  poor,  wild 

"TSCHOOP." 


88  SHEKOMEKO. 

Tlie  wonderful  change  which  had  taken  place  in  this 
wild  Indian,  and  in  the  others  who  had  been  baptized, 
awakened  the  attention  of  the  other  Indians,  and  from 
twenty  and  thirty  miles  round,  they  constantly  flocked  to 
Shekomeko  to  hear  the  new  preacher,  who  spoke,  to  use 
their  own  language,  "  of  a  God  who  became  a  man,  and  had 
loved  the  Indians  so  much  that  he  gave  up  his  life  to  rescue 
them  from  the  devil  and  from  the  service  of  sin." 

In  the  summer  of  1742,  the  mission  at  Shekomeko  was 
visited  by  the  Bishop  Count  Zinzendorf,  who  was  on  this 
occasion  accompanied  by  his  beautiful  and  interesting 
daughter,  Benigna.  They  crossed  the  country  from  Beth- 
lehem, in  Pennsylvania,  to  Esopus  (now  Kingston),  and 
arrived  at  Shekomeko  on  the  27th  of  August,  "  after  pass- 
ing through,"  to  use  his  own  expression,  "  dreadful  wilder- 
nesses, woods,  and  swamps,  in  which  he  and  his  companions 
suff'ered  great  hardships."  Br.  Hauch  received  them  into 
his  hut  with  great  joy,  and,  the  day  following,  lodged  them 
in  a  cottage  of  bark.  Count  Zinzendorf  afterwards  declared 
this  cottage  to  have  been  the  most  agreeable  dwelling  he 
had  ever  inhabited.  On  the  occasion  of  this  visit  six  In- 
dians were  baptized  by  the  missionary  Rauch.  A  regular 
congregation  was  then  formed,  the  first  congregation  of 
believing  Indians  established  in  North  America,  consisting 
of  ten  persons. 

September  4th,  1742,  Count  Zinzendorf  took  leave  of 
this  interesting  mission,  and  was  accompanied  to  Bethlehem 
by  two  Indians  as  guides,  who  were  there  baptized  by  Gott- 
leib  Biittner,  and  called  respectively  David  and  Joshua. 
Count  Zinzendorf  assisted  in  the  administration.  This 
was  the  first  baptism  of  Indians  at  Bethlehem. 

October  1st,  1742,  Gottleib  Biittner  and  his  wife  rejoined 
the  missionary  Ranch  at  Shekomeko,  and  devoted  them- 
selves with  great  energy  and  success  to  the  instruction  of 


SHEKOMEKO.  39 

the  Indians,  constantly  reading  to  them  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  explaining  to  them  the  doctrines  of  the  Word  of  God. 

December  6th,  1742,  was  laid  out  a  burying-ground  for 
the  use  of  the  baptized,  the  same  in  which  the  missionary 
Buttner  was  afterwards  buried.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
1742,  the  number  of  baptized  Indians  in  Shekomeko  was 
thirty-one. 

About  this  time  arrived  Martin  Mack  and  his  wife  to  as- 
sist in  the  mission.  Br.  Mack,  however,  soon  took  charge  of 
the  station  at  Pachgatgoch  (now  Scaticook,  at  Kent,  Conn.), 
where  the  success  of  the  Moravians  was  even  greater  than 
at  Shekomeko,  and  where,  at  intervals,  they  continued  to 
labor  for  more  than  twenty  years.  A  portion  of  the  tribe 
is  still  remaining,  and  their  history  is  full  of  melancholy 
interest,  and  worthy  of  an  imperishable  record. 

March  13th,  1743.  The  holy  communion  was,  after  due 
preparation,  for  the  first  time,  administered  to  the  firstlings 
of  the  Indian  nations  at  Shekomeko.  It  was  preceded  by 
a  love  feast,  and  followed  by  the  pedilavium,  or  washing  of 
one  another's  feet ;  both  of  which  are  established  customs 
among  the  Moravians,  The  missionary  writes :  "  While  I 
live  I  shall  never  lose  the  impression  this  first  communion 
with  the  Indians  in  North  America  made  upon  me." 

In  July,  1743,  the  new  chapel  at  Shekomeko  was  finished 
and  consecrated.  The  building  was  thirty  feet  long  and 
twenty  broad.  It  was  entirely  covered  with  smooth  bark. 
It  is  represented  to  have  been  a  very  appropriate  and  com- 
modious building,  quite  striking  in  its  appearance,  and  of 
great  convenience  to  the  mission.  It  was  constantly  open 
on  Sundays  and  on  festival  occasions,  and  the  greatest 
interest  was  exhibited  by  the  Indians  in  the  religious 
services  which  were  regularly  and  constantly  held  in  their 
new  chapel.  But  troubles  now  began  again  to  thicken 
upon  the  missionaries  and  their  new  converts.    "  The  white 


40  SHEKOMEKO. 

people  who  had  been  accustomed  to  make  the  dissolute  life 
of  the  Indians,  but  chiefly  their  love  of  ardent  spirits,  sub- 
servient to  their  advantage,  were  greatly  enraged  when 
they  saw  that  the  Indians  began  to  turn  from  their  evil 
doings,  and  to  avoid  all  those  sinful  practices  which  had 
been  so  profitable  to  the  traders.  They  therefore  caught  at 
every  false  rumor  and  evil  imputation  which  was  put  in 
circulation  against  the  missionaries.  They  were  publicly 
branded  with  the  epithets  of  papists  and  traitors ;  and  the 
public  authorities  both  in  New  York  and  Connecticut  were 
called  upon  to  interfere  for  the  purpose  of  banishing  them 
from  the  country.  Three  of  them  were  taken  up  at  Pach- 
gatgoch,  and  after  being  dragged  up  and  down  the  country 
for  three  days,  they  were,  upon  a  hearing,  honorably  dis- 
missed by  the  Governor  of  Connecticut ;  yet  their  accusers 
insisted  upon  their  being  bound  over  in  a  penalty  of  one 
hundred  pounds  to  keep  the  laws  of  the  country,  when  they 
immediately  retired  to  Shekomeko,  whither  they  were  fol- 
lowed by  many  of  the  Indians  whom  they  had  instructed, 
and  where  many  others  constantly  resorted  to  them  to 
receive  their  instructions." 

No  charges  could  be  more  preposterous  and  utterly  with- 
out foundation  than  those  of  papists  and  traitors  against 
the  harmless  Moravians,  whose  whole  previous  history  as  a 
people  consisted  of  little  else  than  an  account  of  their 
good  works  and  the  persecutions  and  sufferings  which,  on 
account  of  them,  they  had  endured  at  the  hand  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  who  had  always  made  it  a  fixed 
principle  of  their  policy  never  to  interfere  with  the  politics 
of  the  countries  where  they  sojourned,  but  to  labor  simply 
for  the  spiritual  benefit  of  their  fellow-men,  even  offering, 
though  the  sacrifice  was  not  required,  to  sell  themselves  for 
slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  in  order  to  gain  an  opportunity 
of  instructing  the  poor  negroes,  and  who  were  rewarded  for 


SHEKOMEKO.  41 

such  self-devotion  by  almost  unbounded  success,  in  a  short 
period  numbering  their  converts  by  thousands  among  that 
neglected  and  degraded  race. 

Just  previous  to  the  departure  of  Count  Zinzendorf  to 
Europe,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1743,  he  sent  Br. 
Shaw  to  Shekomeko  as  a  schoolmaster  to  the  Indian  child- 
ren ;  and  not  long  after,  the  brethren  Pyrleus,  and  Sense- 
man,  and  Frederic  Post  (the  last  of  whom  had  married 
a  baptized  Indian  woman),  with  their  Avives,  joined  the 
mission. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1743,  the  congregation  of 
baptized  Indians  in  Shekomeko  consisted  of  sixty-three 
persons,  exclusive  of  those  belonging  to  the  neighboring 
station  at  Pachgatgoch,  and  a  much  greater  number  of 
constant  and  regular  hearers. 

About  this  time,  however,  commenced  the  difficulties 
between  the  French  and  English  Governments  with  refer- 
ence to  the  colonial  boundaries,  which,  a  few  years  after- 
wards, resulted  in  the  bloody  war  in  which  our  great  and 
good  AVashington  first  distinguished  himself  as  a  soldier. 
In  the  intrigues  connected  with  these  troubles,  the  Romish 
Jesuits,  as  usual,  were  incessantly  employed  on  the  part  of 
the  French  to  alienate  the  various  Indian  tribes  from  the 
English  colonies,  and  to  prepare  them,  in  the  event  of  war, 
to  act  efficiently  in  their  favor  in  the  sanguinary  contest. 
The  fears  of  the  white  settlers  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
were  thoroughly  alarmed.  The  Indians  were  generally 
looked  upon  as  enemies,  and  any  man  who  befriended  them 
was  almost  necessarily  regarded  as  a  confidant  or  spy  of  the 
French,  or  of  the  treacherous  and  malignant  Jesuits. 

This  state  of  the  public  mind  afforded  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  the  enemies  of  the  missionaries  at  Sheko- 
meko to  give  currency  to  false  and  injurious  reports  with 
reference  to  them.     They  were  charged  with  being  Papists 


4:2  SHEKOMEKO. 

and  Jesuits  in  disguise,  who  were  only  preparing  the 
Indians  for  a  general  massacre  of  the  colonists ;  and  they 
were  accused  of  having  arms  secreted  for  that  purpose. 
These  reports  so  terrified  the  inhabitants  that  many  of  them 
forsook  their  farms,  and  the  others  placed  themselves  under 
arms  for  their  mutual  defence. 

March  1st,  1744,  Mr.  Justice  Hagaman,  of  Filkentown 
(now  Mabbitsville,  or  Little  Rest),  visited  Shekomeko,  and 
informed  the  missionaries  that  it  was  his  duty  to  inquire 
what  sort  of  people  the  Brethren  were,  for  that  the  most 
dangerous  tenets  were  ascribed  to  them ;  that  for  himself, 
however,  he  gave  no  credit  to  the  lying  reports  which  were 
circulated  concerning  them,  and  he  was  fully  convinced 
that  the  mission  at  Shekomeko  was  indeed  a  work  of  God, 
because,  by  the  labors  of  the  Brethren,  the  most  savage 
heathen  had  been  so  evidently  changed  that  he  and  many 
other  Christians  were  put  to  shame  by  their  godly  walk 
and  conversation.  Buettner,  the  principal  missionary,  was 
at  this  time  absent  in  Bethlehem.  Immediately  upon  his 
return,  the  missionaries  were  summoned  to  Pickipsi  (Pough- 
keepsie)  to  exercise  with  the  militia,  which  they  refused  on 
the  ground  that,  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  they  could  not 
legally  be  required  to  bear  arms. 

On  June  24th,  1744,  a  justice  of  the  peace  arrived  at 
Shekomeko  from  Pickipsi  to  examine  into  the  whole  affair. 
He  admitted  that  the  accusations  made  against  the  mission- 
aries were  entirely  groundless ;  but  he  required  them  to 
take  two  oaths,  as  involving  the  matters  concerning  which 
they  had  been  accused,  and  which  had  been  the  occasion  of 
the  interference  of  the  Government : — 

1st.  That  King  George  being  the  lawful  sovereign  of  the 
kingdom,  they  would  not  in  any  way  encourage  the  Pre- 
tender. 


SIIEKOMEKO.  43 

2d.  That  tlicy  rejected  Transubstantiation,  the  worship 
of  the  Vh'giii  Mary,  Purgatory,  etc. 

To  every  point  contained  in  these  oaths,  Buttner 
assured  him  that  they  could  entirely  agree.  And  though 
they  could  not  in  good  conscience  take  an  oath,  being 
restrained  by  the  religious  principles  which,  as  members  of 
the  Brethren's  Church,  they  had  adopted,  yet  they  were 
willing  to  be  bound  to  the  last  extremity,  by  their  asseve- 
ration, yes  or  no.  The  justice  expressed  his  satisfaction 
for  the  present,  but  required  them  to  be  bound  over  in  a 
penalty  of  forty  pounds  to  appear  before  the  court  in  Pick- 
ipsi  on  the  16th  of  October  following. 

On  June  22d  they  were  summoned  to  Reinbeck,  where 
they  were  called  upon  in  public  court,  before  Justice  Beek- 
man,  to  prove  that  they  were  privileged  teachers.  Biittner 
produced  his  written  vocation  and  his  certificate  of  ordina- 
tion, duly  signed  by  Bishop  David  Nitschman. 

And  again  on  the  14:th  of  July,  on  account  of  the  increas- 
ing public  dissatisfaction,  they  were  required  by  the  magis- 
trates to  appear  at  Filkentown ;  and  here,  while  no  reliable 
testimony  appeared  against  them,  their  firm  friend,  John 
E.au,  appeared  in  their  favor,  and  gave  a  decisive  and 
noble  testimony,  from  his  own  intimate  knowledge,  in  their 
defence. 

In  the  mean  time  their  adversaries  had  repeatedly  ac- 
cused them  before  the  Hon.  George  Clinton,  then  Governor 
of  the  colony  of  New  York,  until  he  finally  resolved  to  send 
for  them,  and  to  examine  into  the  truth  of  these  startling 
reports.  Biittner  and  Senseman,  from  Shekomeko,  and 
Shaw,  from  Bethlehem,  went  accordingly  to  New  York, 
and  found  upon  their  arrival  that  the  attention  of  the 
whole  town  was  aroused  concerning  them.  Mr.  Justice 
Beekman,  however,  who  had  before  examined  them  in 
Reinbeck,   publicly   took    their   part   in   New   York,  and 


44  SHEKOMEKO. 

affirmed  that  "  tlie  good  done  by  them  among  the  Indians 
was  undeniable." 

The  commencement  of  these  proceedings  before  the 
Governor  of  New  York  was  at  a  council,  held  at  the  coun- 
cil chamber  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  fifth  of  July, 
1744,  at  which  his  Excellency  communicated  to  the  Board 
that  he  had  sent  letters  to  Col.  Henry  Beekman,  one  of  his 
Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace  for  Duchess  County,  and 
colonel  of  the  militia  for  that  county,  acquainting  him  with 
the  information  which  he  had  received  concerning  the 
Moravians,  and  requiring  him  to  make  the  necessary  in- 
vestigation. 

His  Excellency  also  communicated  to  the  Board  a  letter 
from  Col.  Beekman  to  the  effect  that  there  were  four  Mora- 
vian priests  and  many  Indians  at  Schacomico,  and  that  he 
had  made  search  for  arms  and  ammunition,  but  could  find 
none,  nor  hear  of  any ;  but  that  before  the  receipt  of  his 
Excellency's  order,  the  sheriff,  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
eight  others,  were  at  Schacomico,  where  they  found  all  the 
Indians  at  work  on  their  plantations,  who  seemed  in  a 
consternation  at  the  approach  of  the  sheriff  and  his  com- 
pany, but  received  them  civilly ;  that  they  found  no  ammu- 
nition and  as  few  arms  as  could  be  expected  for  such  a 
number  of  men  ;  that  they  denied  that  they  were  disaffected 
to  the  crown,  saying  that  they  themselves  were  afraid  of 
the  French  and  of  their  Indians,  and  that  their  only  busi- 
ness at  Schacomico  was  to  gain  souls  among  the  heathen  ; 
that  they  had  a  commission  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, and  were  ready  to  show  their  credentials ;  that  the 
justice  demanded  of  them  to  take  the  oaths,  but  they 
refused,  as  they  alleged,  through  a  scruple  of  conscience  ; 
and  that  the  justice  then  bound  them  over  to  answer  what 
should  be  objected  against  them. 

Upon   the   examination    of    the   missionaries   Blittner, 


SHEKOMEKO.  45 

Shaw,  and  Senseman,  before  the  Governor  and  council, 
these  statements  were  again  reiterated,  and  were  made  the 
subject  of  careful  and  deliberate  investigation.  And  at  a 
subsequent  meeting  of  the  'council  it  was  concluded :  "  As 
to  the  Moravian  priests:  The  General  Assembly  of  this 
province  having  ordered  in  a  bill  for  the  securing  this,  his 
Majesty's  Government,  the  council  were  of  opinion  to 
advise  his  Excellency  to  order  the  Moravian  priests  back 
to  their  homes,  and  required  them  to  live  there  peaceably, 
and  await  the  further  orders  of  his  Excellency." 

The  prosecution  of  the  Moravians  thus  far  was  under  the 
Provincial  law  against  the  Jesuits,  passed  July  31st,  1700. 
The  bill,  above  referred  to,  passed  the  colonial  Assembly, 
September  21st,  174-i.  It  expired  by  its  own  limitation, 
September  21st,  1745.  Only  the  title  is  published  in  any 
copy  of  the  colonial  laws,  to  which  the  writer  has  been 
able,  as  yet,  to  gain  access.  But  that  it  was  to  the  last  de- 
gree unjust  and  persecuting,  evidently  appears  from  all  the 
documentary  evidence  connected  with  it.  Indeed,  the  earn- 
est protest  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  and  other  leading  Moravi- 
ans, together  with  the  demand  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  for 
an  explanation,  induced  the  governor  and  council  to  publish, 
officially,  the  reasons  which  they  supposed  had  influenced 
the  Assembly  in  the  passage  of  the  law — a  document  which, 
for  its  misconceptions  of  the  real  character  of  the  zealous 
and  good  men,  against  whom  it  was  aimed,  and  the  odious 
imputations  which  it  casts  upon  them,  is  seldom  equalled.^ 
It  is  some  palliation,  perhaps,  of  these  persecuting  measures, 
that  the  public  mind  was  exceedingly  sensitive,  and  that 
the  whole  country  was  filled  with  rumors  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  harmless  Moravians.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
equally  true,  that  they  had  fully  proved  themselves  clear  of 

*  Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York,  vol.  iii.  p.  1022. 


46  SHEKOMEKO. 

every  charge  that  had  been  preferred  against  them,  and, 
finally,  secured  a  full  vindication  by  the  highest  authority 
of  the  British  Government.  For,  by  an  act  of  the  British 
Parliament,  passed  May  12th,  1'5'49: — 

"1.  The  Unitas  Fratrum  were  acknovi'ledged  as  an  ancient 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

"  2.  Those  of  its  members  who  scrupled  to  take  an  oath, 
were  exempted  from  it,  on  making  a  declaration  in  the 
presence  of  Almighty  God,  as  witness  of  the  truth. 

"3.  They  were  exempted  from  acting  as  jurymen. 

"  4.  They  were  entirely  exempted  from  military  duty 
under  reasonable  conditions." 

Such  was  the  ultimate  result  of  the  remonstrances  of  the 
Moravians  to  the  British  and  Colonial  Governments.  A 
result,  however,  so  tardy  as  that,  though  it  aided  their  sub- 
sequent missionary  efforts,  it  was  yet  of  little  or  no  service 
to  the  poor  Christian  Indians  and  their  self-denying  teach- 
ers at  Shekomeko. 

September  9th,  1744,  Biittner  was  again  required  to  ap- 
pear at  Pickipsi ;  but  was  again  honorably  dismissed.  So 
that,  notwithstanding  all  the  trouble  and  vexation  to  which 
they  had  been  subjected,  they  were  found  to  be  entirely 
innocent,  and  had  established  the  conviction,  in  the  minds 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  of  their  entire  sincerity, 
and  of  the  great  good  arising  from  their  labors. 

Their  adversaries  were  therefore  foiled  in  this  direction. 
But  they  had  adopted  other  expedients  which  were  more 
successful;  for,  on  the  15tli  of  December,  1744,  the  sheriff 
and  three  justices  of  the  peace  arrived  at  Shekomeko,  and, 
in  the  name  of  the  governor  and  council  of  New  York, 
prohibited  all  meetings  of  the  Brethren,  and  commanded 
the  missionaries  to  appear  before  the  court,  at  Pickipsi,  on 
the  seventeenth.  Biittner  being  ill,  the  other  missionaries 
alone  appeared,  when  the  act  before  referred  to,  which  had 


SHEKOMEKO.  47 

been  passed  with  special  reference  to  their  case,  was  read 
to  them ;  by  which  the  ministers  of  the  congregation  of  the 
Bretliren  employed  in  teaching  the  Indians  were  expelled 
the  country,  under  pretence  of  being  in  league  with  the 
French,  and  forbidden,  under  a  heavy  penalty,  ever  more 
to  appear  among  the  Indians,  without  having  first  taken  the 
oaths  of  allegiance. 

Soon  afterwards,  the  station  at  Shekomeko  was  visited 
by  the  Moravian  Bishop,  A.  G.  Spangenberg,  with  the  view 
of  devising  some  means  by  which  the  missionaries  might 
still  carry  on  their  work.  But,  all  in  vain.  After  a  stay  of 
two  weeks,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  converted  Indians, 
and  their  friends,  still  exposed  to  all  the  evil  influences  by 
which  they  were  surrounded. 

"And  not  long  after,"  says  the  Moravian  historian,  "the 
white  people  came  to  a  resolution  to  drive  the  believing 
Indians  from  Shekomeko,  by  main  force,  on  pretence  that 
the  ground  on  which  the  town  was  built  belonged  to  others. 
The  white  people  took  possession  of  the  land,  and  then  ap- 
pointed a  watch  to  prevent  all  visits  from  the  Moravians  at 
Bethlehem." 

Thus,  by  such  unworthy  means,  was  summarily  broken 
up  and  dispersed  the  most  promising  and  the  most  import- 
ant mission  to  the  aborigines,  in  this  country,  which  had  as 
yet  been  established — a  mission  which,  if  it  had  continued, 
might  have  preserved  a  remnant  of  that  unhappy  people, 
who  were  soon  afterward  dispersed  and  scattered  abroad, 
never  again  to  be  gathered,  and  never  again  to  be  blessed 
with  such  noble  and  self-denying  teachers  as  the  faithful 
Moravians,  who  labored  with  such  devoted  zeal  at  Sheko- 
meko. 

Gottleib  Buttner  soon  ended  his  weary  pilgrimage.  He 
gently  and  happily  fell  asleep  in  Christ  on  February  23d, 
1745,  in  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  his  age.     Blessed  be  his 


48  SHEKOMEKO.     ' 

memory.  The  Indians  wept  over  him  like  children  over  a 
beloved  parent.  They  dressed  his  corpse  in  white,  and 
buried  him  with  great  solemnity  in  the  burying-ground  at 
Shekomeko,  watering  his  grave  with  their  tears,  and  for  a 
long  time  afterwards  they  used  to  visit  and  weep  over  it. 
The  stone  afterwards  placed  over  his  grave  contained  the 
following  inscription,  in  German :  "  Here  lies  the  body  of 
Gottleib  Btittner,  who,  according  to  the  commandment  of 
his  crucified  God  and  Saviour,  brought  the  glad  tidings  to 
the  heathen,  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  had  made  an  atonement 
for  their  sins.  As  many  as  embraced  this  doctrine  in  faith 
were  baptized  into  the  death  of  the  Lord.  His  last  prayer 
was  that  they  might  be  preserved  until  the  day  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  was  born  Dec.  29th,  1716,  and  fell  asleep 
in  the  Lord  February  23d,  1745." 

Only  a  small  portion  of  this  stone,  very  much  mutilated 
and  scarcely  at  all  intelligible,  is  still  preserved.  The  lo- 
cality is  still  shown  by  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Edward  Hunting, 
as  also  the  locality  of  the  missionary  buildings,  some  por- 
tions of  the  foundations  of  which  are  still  recognized.  The 
orchard  planted  by  the  missionaries  has,  within  a  few  years 
past,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  apple-tree,  entirely  dis- 
appeared: and  the  medicinal  roots  which  they  cultivated 
have,  until  quite  recently,  refused  to  quit  their  home  in  the 
soil,  but,  as  if  prompted  by  the  instinct  of  Moravian  zeal 
and  love  to  man,  have  remained  a  blessing  to  those  who 
have  since  continued  to  dwell  about  the  spot. 

The  effect  of  the  persecuting  measures  of  their  enemies, 
and  the  death  of  their  beloved  teacher,  was  exceedingly 
disheartening  to  the  poor  Indians.  A  portion  of  them  re- 
moved to  Pachgatgoch,  where  they  attempted  to  make 
themselves  a  home  among  the  tribe  which  resided  there. 
Another  portion  formed  a  colony  at  Wechquatnach,  on  the 
eastern  border  of  Indian  Pond  (Indian,  Wequagnok,  or 


SHEKOMEKO.  49 

Wequodnoc),  in  the  town  of  Sharon,  Conn.  And  at  this  place 
was  formed  an  Indian  congregation  under  the  charge  of  the 
Moravians.  David  Bruce,  a  Moravian  missionary,  a  Scotch- 
man by  birth,  was  appointed  to  the  station,  where  he  died 
greatly  lamented  in  1749.  When  the  soil  came  into  the 
possession  of  the  present  occupant,  Mr.  Andrew  Lake,  the 
gravestone  was  missing ;  but  a  portion  of  it  containing  the 
inscription  was  afterwards  found,  laid  as  a  common  stone 
into  a  stone  wall.  The  inscription  is  as  follows :  "  David 
Bruce,  from  Edinburgh,  in  Scotland,  Minister  of  the  Breth- 
ren's Church  among  the  Indians.     Departed  1749." 

After  the  dispersion  of  the  Indians  at  Wechquatnach,  a 
Moravian  congregation  of  white  persons  seems  to  have  been 
established  on  the  western  side  of  Indian  Pond  in  the  town 
of  Northeast,  on  the  present  farm  of  Mr.  Douglass  Clark. 
Here  was  a  meeting-house  built,  which  was  standing  until 
within  a  few  years ;  and  near  the  spot,  in  an  adjoining 
burying-ground,  is  the  grave  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Powell — 
doubtless  the  Moravian  missionary  of  that  name.  As  ap- 
pears from  the  stone  which  stood  at  his  grave,  he  died  in 
1774,  aged  sixty-three  years.^ 

Another  portion  of  the  Indian  congregation  at  Shekomeko 
emigrated  with  their  teachers  to  Pennsylvania,  where  they 
attempted  to  form  a  colony,  which  was  fruitless.  The  name 
given  to  this  colony,  as  significant  of  the  condition  and 
hopes  of  the  Indians,  was  Freidenshiitten  (tents  of  peace). 

*  1T53.  In  the  province  of  Xew  York  and  Xew  England,  where  the 
Brethren  formerly  suffered  much,  they  were  now  invited  to  preach.  In  the 
city  of  Xew  York  itself  they  built  a  church,  and  the  evangelical  testimony 
and  exemplary  work  of  those  brethren  who,  as  missionaries,  ministered  in 
the  gospel  to  the  Indians  at  Pachgatgoch  and  Wechquatnach  in  New 
England,  left  a  good  impression  in  those  parts.  Their  white  neighbors  in 
Duchess  Co.,  New  York  Government,  begged  for  and  obtained  a  minister 
from  Bethlehem. — Crantz^s  History  of  the  United  Brethren,  page  401. 


50  SHEKOMEKO. 

These  Indians  finally  settled  at  Gnadenliutten  (tents  of 
grace).  Among  the  Christian  Indians  who  settled  there 
was  the  noble  Indian  interpreter,  John,  formerly  Tschoop. 
John  finally  became  a  victim,  at  Bethlehem,  of  that  terrible 
scourge  of  the  Indians,  the  smallpox.  "  As  a  heathen," 
says  the  Moravian  historian,  "  John  distinguished  himself 
by  his  sinful  practices.  And,  as  his  vices  became  the  more 
seductive  on  account  of  his  natural  wit  and  humor,  so  as  a 
Christian  he  became  a  most  powerful  and  persuasive  witness 
of  our  SaAdour  among  his  nation.  His  gifts  were  sanctified 
by  the  grace  of  God,  and  employed  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
be  the  means  of  blessing,  both  to  Europeans  and  Indians. 
Few  of  his  countrymen  could  vie  with  him  in  point  of 
Indian  oratory.  His  discourses  were  full  of  animation,  and 
his  words  penetrated  like  fire  into  the  hearts  of  his  country- 
men. In  short,  he  appeared  chosen  by  God  to  be  a  witness 
to  his  people,  and  was  four  years  active  in  this  service. 
Nor  was  he  less  respected  as  a  chief  among  the  Indians ;  no 
affairs  of  state  being  transacted  without  his  advice  and 
consent.  During  his  illness,  the  believing  Indians  went 
often,  and  stood  weeping  around  his  bed.  Even  then  he 
spoke,  with  power  and  energy,  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel, 
and  in  all  things  he  approved  himself,  to  his  last  breath,  as 
a  minister  of  God." 

John  died  at  Bethlehem,  August  27th,  1746,  where  his 
remains  now  lie  buried  with  those  of  many  other  Indians. 

Driven  from  their  ancestral  home,  and  deprived  of  their 
new-born  Christian  privileges  and  hopes,  by  the  rapacious 
and  unprincipled  hostility  of  the  white  man,  the  ultimate 
dispersion  and  final  annihilation  of  this  interesting  tribe  of 
Indians  is  only  the  more  affecting,  because  they  had  ex- 
hibited so  great  a  capacity  for  Christian  instruction,  and 
because  their  whole  history  places  in  so  strong  a  light  the 
fact  that  the  vices  of  the  white  man,  his  rapacity,  deceit,  and 


SHEKOMEKO.  51 

crueltj/,  have  exiled  the  red  man  from  his  country,  from  his 
native  soil  and  heritage,  and,  irrespective  of  good  or  evil 
on  his  part,  have  nearly  supplanted  him  from  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

From  the  execution  of  the  act  of  the  colonial  Government 
before  referred  to,  it  became  impossible,  of  course,  for  the 
Moravians  to  continue  their  labors  among  the  heathen 
within  the  province  of  New  York.  And  its  effects  were 
most  disastrous  upon  the  missions  in  Connecticut,  and 
caused  their  final  abandonment,  for  fields  where  the  devoted 
missionaries  might  enjoy  the  freedom  of  religious  liberty, 
and  the  opportunity  to  carry  on  their  self-denying  labors, 
without  the  restraint  of  penal  laws,  and  without  the  petty 
annoyance  of  a  government  nominally  free,  but  in  this  case, 
at  least,  practically  tyrannical  and  unjust. 

The  hostility  to  Jesuit  influence  which  so  strongly  ap- 
pears in  this  history  of  the  Moravians  at  Shekomeko,  was 
in  itself  better  founded,  had  its  direction  been  intelligent, 
and  uninfluenced  by  those  who  cared  less  for  the  Jesuits 
than  to  serve  their  own  private  purposes  and  ends.  The 
Jesuits  were  forever  plotting  against  the  Government,  and 
exciting  the  animosity  of  the  Indians  against  the  English 
colonies.  The  old  French  war  was  itself  the  work  of  the 
Jesuits.  And  the  Indian  hordes  themselves,  which  gave  so 
terrible  an  aspect  to  that  war,  were  generally  led  on  by 
Romish  Jesuits  disoruised  in  the  garb  of  Indians.  And  to 
them  was  mainly  due  the  terrible  ferocity  by  which  that 
war  was  so  strikingly  characterized. 

The  colonial  Government,  as  well  as  that  of  the  mother 
country,  had  for  a  long  time  been  aware  of  this  fact.  And 
hence,  by  the  provincial  laws,  not  only  a  known  Jesuit,  but 
any  man  suspected  of  being  a  Jesuit,  was  put  upon  his  trial, 
and,  if  convicted,  was  banished  from  the  colony  of  New 


52  SHEKOMEKO. 

York  on  pain  of  perpetual  imprisonment,  and,  in  case  of 
escape  from  prison,  of  death. 

To  such  as  are  not  familiar  with  the  infamous  political 
intrigues  and  wholesale  treachery  of  the  minions  of  Rome, 
and  especially  of  the  order  of  Jesuits,  so  stringent  a  law 
may  seem  too  severe,  and  may  seem  to  partake  of  a  perse- 
cuting character.  But  it  must  be  observed  that  it  was 
aimed  at  them,  not  as  members  of  a  Christian  society  as 
such,  but  as  necessarily  by  the  principles  which  they  had 
adopted  and  the  oaths  by  which  they  were  bound,  traitors 
and  spies  in  the  country,  whose  leading  purpose  was  the 
subversion  of  every  Protestant  government,  and  the  bringing 
in  of  the  dominant  power  of  Rome.  And,  as  opportunity 
offered,  the  vile  spirit  of  these  malignant  principles  and 
oaths,  have  always  been  carried  out  in  practice  in  every 
treacherous  and  treasonable  form,  even  to  the  extent  of 
overthrowing  governments,  and  of  deposing  kings,  and  de- 
claring their  subjects  absolved  from  their  allegiance,  thereby 
inculcating  as  a  sacred  duty,  upon  all  members  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  wholesale  treason,  murder,  and  rebellion. 

Thus,  in  England,  to  say  nothing  of  the  other  governments 
of  Europe,  King  John  in  1210,  King  Henry  VIII.  in  1538, 
Queen  Elizabeth  in  1569,  Charles  I.  in  1643,  and,  finally, 
George  II.  in  1729,  about  fifteen  years  previous  to  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Moravians  from  Shekomeko,  were  anathe- 
matized and  deposed,  and  their  subjects  declared  absolved 
from  their  allegiance  by  the  Popes  of  Rome.^ 

And  it  is  matter  of  authentic  history,  that  in  the  troublous 
times  of  Charles  I.  and  Queen  Elizabeth,  many  of  the  most 
turbulent  and  disorganizing  of  the  Puritan  preachers  were 
Jesuits  in  disguise,  and  in  the  pay  of  the  Pope. 

The  law,  then,  against  the  Jesuits  was  at  least  justifiable, 

*  Church  Review,  vol.  v.,  No.  4,  Art.  III. 


SHEKOMEKO.  53 

if  not  expedient,  and  demanded  by  the  necessity  of  the  case. 
The  great  misfortune  was  that  it  should  have  been  used  for 
a  purpose  for  which  it  was  not  intended,  or  to  gratify  the 
mahce  or  allay  the  fears  of  those  who  would  at  all  events 
drive  the  harmless  Moravians  from  the  country,  without 
regard  to  the  purity  of  their  purpose,  or  the  righteousness 
of  their  cause;  and  the  greater  misfortune  still  that  it  should 
have  led  to  the  passage  of  another  law  against  the  Moravians 
by  name,  of  the  most  odious,  unjust,  and  persecuting  cha- 
racter. 


MOEAYIANS  IN  NEW  YORK  AND  CONNECTICUT. 


VISIT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE. 

The  foregoing  valuable  contribution  to  the  historical 
recollections  of  the  early  Indian  Mission  of  the  Moravian 
Church  in  this  country,  was  received  by  its  members  with 
peculiar  welcome.  It  appeared  at  a  time  when  a  spirit  of 
inquiry  in  that  direction  was  generally  prevalent,  when  men 
and  incidents  of  the  past  were  being  made  the  subject  of 
research,  and  information  sought  for,  that,  at  a  later  day, 
might  be  inaccessible,  or  might  have  perished  with  those 
who  alone  were  its  repositories. 

The  contents  of  the  "Shekomeko"  pamphlet  were,  fur- 
thermore, of  so  satisfactory  a  nature  as  to  suggest  the  pro- 
priety of  visiting  the  scenes  to  which  they  refer.  The  wish 
to  do  so  was  entertained  by  a  number  of  persons.  It  was 
thought  that,  with  the  aid  of  records  and  documents  known 
to  exist  in  the  archives  of  the  Church  at  Bethlehem,  Mr. 
Davis's  discoveries  might  be  confirmed,  new  clues  obtained, 
and  the  identity  of  the  old  stations  established  beyond  a 
doubt. 

No  one  was  more  interested  in  such  a  result  than  Mr. 
John  Jordan,  Jr.,  of  Philadelphia,  who  at  once  proposed  to 
conduct  a  party  of  exploration  to  the  places  in  question, 
at  some  early  day — and  the  13th  of  June  was  designated. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  necessary  preliminary  arrangements 
were  made,  and  the  co-operation  of  Mr.  Benson  J.  Lossing, 
of  Poughkeepsie,  and  that  of  the  Rev.  Sheldon  Davis,  of 
Pleasant  Valley,  were  promptly  offered.      With  Mr.  and 


MORAVIANS  IN   NEW   YORK   AND   CONNECTICUT.  55 

Mrs.  Jordan  there  were  also  associated  Mr.  Townsend 
Ward,  Librarian  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
Messrs.  John  A.  McAllister  and  George  F.  Bcnsell,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  the  writer  of  these  pages — all  members 
of  the  Moravian  Historical  Society. 

An  account  of  the  result  of  this  visit  appeared  in  The 
Moravian  of  July  21st  and  28th,  from  which  the  following 
is  an  extract : — 

"On  Monday,  the  13th  of  June,"  continues  the  writer, 
"four  of  our  party  left  Bethlehem  in  the  early  train  for 
New  York.  There  we  were  joined  by  the  remaining  Phi- 
ladelphians — one  of  them  an  artist,  who  had  been  engaged 
to  take  sketches  of  the  localities  we  designed  visiting.  At 
3  P.  M.,  we  went  on  board  the  North  River  steamer '  Thomas 
Powell,'  and  here  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Benson  J. 
Lossing,  the  well-known  author  of  The  Field  Book  of  the 
Revolution,  and  a  contributor  to  several  of  the  popular 
journals  of  the  day.  Mr.  Lossing  had  been  apprised  of  our 
project,  and,  it  being  congenial  to  his  own  tastes,  had  re- 
solved on  joining  the  party,  at  the  same  time  offering  the 
hospitalities  of  his  home  at  Poughkeepsie. 

"The  weather  was  rather  unfavorable  to  have  us  enjoy 
the  river  scenery,  for  the  sky  was  overcast,  and  threatened 
rain ;  yet,  with  such  an  admirable  guide  as  Mr.  Lossing,  to 
whom  every  point  was  familiar,  the  river  was  invested  with 
more  than  ordinary  interest.  Arrived  at  Poughkeepsie,  we 
were  received  by  Mr.  Lossing's  household  with  a  warm 
welcome.  The  kindness  we  experienced  at  the  hands  of 
this  excellent  family  during  our  short  sojourn  in  the  city, 
and  the  pleasure  we  subsequently  derived  from  their  com- 
pany on  our  excursion,  I  cannot  refrain  from  adverting  to." 

Here  we  were  greeted  by  the  first  tokens  from  the  long 
since  dead.  In  Mr.  Lossing's  library  we  were  shown  the 
remaining   fragment   of   Gottlob   Biittner's   tombstone — a 


56  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

heavy  mass  of  gvay  carbonate  of  lime  ;  on  one  side  of  which 
stands  the  following  inscription,  in  the  thin  Latin  characters, 
that  arc  met  with  in  the  print  of  the  last  century  : — 

OTTES    AM 
IDEN    DIE   B 

3    IHRE    SiJN 

Blut  Jesu  ver 

elches  sie  auch 

und  sich  in  d 

Herrn  Tauf 

LETZTES    r 

It  was  a  venerable  object  this  time-worn  memento  of  the 
past !  Though  silent,  it  spoke  forcibly  of  the  transitoriness 
of  human  things — not  only  of  the  end  of  all  honor  and 
glory,  but  also  of  the  end  of  all  tribulation  and  suffering. 

Four  years  ago  this  relic  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
Poughkeepsie  Lyceum  —  having  been  purchased  by  one 
who  had  been  travelling  in  Duchess  County,  and  collect- 
ins:  Indian  curiosities  with  a  view  to  form  a  museum. 
Its  history  and  the  import  of  the  inscription  were  generally 
unknown — though  Mr.  Davis  was  almost  confident  that  it 
was  the  gravestone  of  the  Moravian  missionary.  Some 
deemed  it  a  monument  to  an  Indian  chief.  No  one  could 
interpret  the  fragmentary  epitaph  in  an  unknown  language. 
It  was,  therefore,  extremely  gratifying  to  those  who  had  so 
often  read  the  mysterious  characters,  to  have  them  com- 
pared with  the  following  original  draft,  in  the  German, 
designed  at  Bethlehem,  in  IT-io,  for  the  gravestone  of  the 
departed  Biittner: — 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  Oi 

IIlER  RUIIET 

GOTTLOJJ  13UTTXER, 

DER    NACn   DEM   BeFEHL   SEINES 
GOTTES    AM    KrEUZ, 

DEN  Heiden  die  Botsciiaft  BRACIITE, 

DAS  ihre  Sunden  durch  das 

Blut  Jesu  versoiint  sind, 

avelciies  sie  auch  angexommen 

UND    SICH    in    DEN    ToD   DES 

IIerrn  haben  Taufen  lassen. 
Seix  leztes  Fleiien  war, 

DAS   SIE  Alle  MOCHTEN  BEHALTEN  "WERDEN, 

BIS  auf  den  Tag  Jesu  Christi. 

Er  war  geboren  den  xxixsteu 

December  MDCCXVI,  (v.  s.) 

"UND    ENTSCHLIEF,    IM    HeRRN, 

AM  xxiiisten  Februar  MDCCXLY.  (v.  s.) 

Mr.  Lossing  promised  to  exert  his  influence  to  have  the 
stone  transferred  to  the  Moravian  Historical  Society. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
Kev.  Sheldon  Davis  and  his  wife,  who  reside  at  Pleasant 
Valley,  seven  miles  northeast  of  Poughkeepsie.  Mr.  Davis 
had  been  apprised  of  our  arrival,  and,  as  he  had  offered  to 
act  as  guide  in  our  tour  of  exploration,  had  come  to  Mr. 
Lossing's,  to  decide  on  the  course  of  the  route,  and  com- 
plete the  necessary  arrangements. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  we  accordingly  set  out  for  the 
site  of  old  Shekomeko.  Several  conveyances  had  been  pro- 
vided— as  our  party  had  been  joined  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lossing  and  Miss  Fanny  Sweet,  his  sister-in-law,  and  his 
daughter.  Miss  Cora  Lossing.  The  weather  was  fair  over- 
head, but  promised  a  warm  summer's  day.  Leaving  the 
eastern  limits  of  the  city  by  the  Duchess  turnpike  and 
crossing  Wappinger's  Creek,  we  soon  reached  Pleasant  Val- 
ley, where  we  were  joined  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  in  his 
Passing  next  through  a  rich  agricultural 


58  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

and  grazing  region,  at  this  season  of  the  year  in  the  full 
freshness  of  verdure,  along  avenues  of  maples,  and  by  clusters 
of  graceful  elms  in  meadows  blooming  with  buttercups  and 
daisies,  we  left  the  main  road,  to  see  the  noble  cattle  at 
Thorndale,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Thorne,  of  New  York. 
At  noon,  we  drew  up  at  Mabbettsville,  a  small  collection 
of  houses,  with  tavern,  store,  and  blacksmith-shop,  the  ordi- 
nary nucleus  of  an  incipient  village.  This  is  the  Filkintown 
of  the  historian  Loskiel,  so  called  from  the  Filkins,  early 
settlers  in  the  neighborhood.  It  lies  in  a  pretty  valley,  sur- 
rounded by  gently  rising  hills,  eighteen  miles  from  Pough- 
keepsie.  The  day  had  grown  excessively  warm,  and  there 
were  indications  of  a  shower.  We  had  twelve  miles  to 
make  before  reaching  the  terminus  of  our  journey,  and  that 
through  a  hilly  country  over  the  highest  cultivated  lands  in 
Duchess  County,  which  repeatedly  afforded  imposing  views 
of  the  Catskill,  beyond  the  Hudson,  and  the  Taghkanic 
Mountain,  in  Massachusetts.  Four  miles  from  Shekomeko, 
at  Thompson's  Pond  (Huns  Lake),  one  of  our  horses 
dropped  down  dead  from  the  intense  heat,  and  although 
this  loss  occasioned  delay  and  inconvenience,  it  afforded 
several  of  our  party,  who  were  compelled  to  proceed  on 
foot,  an  opportunity  of  enjoying  the  beauties  of  the  Stissing 
Valley,  into  which  we  were  just  entering.  A  sudden  bend 
in  the  road  afforded  a  charming  prospect.  Before  us,  from 
north  to  south  for  six  miles,  stretched  the  back  of  old  Stiss- 
ing— an  isolated  granite  mountain,  with  sides  and  rugged 
ridge,  covered  with  forest  as  thick  as  when  the  Mohegan, 
one  hundred  years  ago,  roamed  through  its  solitudes  to 
rouse  the  bear,  or  chase  the  bounding  moose.  Eastward, 
along  its  foot  to  the  farthest  limits  of  the  landscape,  lay 
luxuriant  meadows  with  not  a  tree  to  vary  the  tapestry  of 
green  that  was  sparkling  with  the  recently  fallen  rain- 
drops;— and  over  this  picture  deep  silence  brooded — no 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  59 

signs  of  life,  no  cattle,  no  birds,  not  a  moving  cloud  were 
there ;  the  very  school-boys,  just  freed  from  the  restraint 
of  the  school-house  by  the  side  of  the  road,  were  lying  in 
groups  on  a  knoll,  and  quietly  looking  up  that  tranquil 
valley,  as  though  they  had  been  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
its  Sabbath  stillness. 

At  four  P.  M.  we  all  met  at  Mr.  Edward  Hunting's,  in 
the  township  of  Pine  Plains,  on  whose  lands  is  the  site  of 
Biittner's  grave  and  of  the  Indian  village  of  Shekomeko. 
Here  we  were  received  most  cordially,  as  well  by  the  pro- 
prietor's family  (consisting  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunting,  his 
two  daughters,  and  his  brother,  Mr.  Samuel  Hunting),  as  by 
a  number  of  neighbors  and  friends,  who  had  been  advised  of 
our  intended  visit.  Among  the  latter  were  the  Rev.  Frede- 
rick Sill,  an  Episcopal  clergyman  from  Lower  Red  Hook, 
Mr.  Samuel  Deuel,  and  Mr.  Theron  Wilber.  Mr.  Hunting's 
homestead  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  New  England  style  of 
farm-house,  a  low  white  frame  building  set  back  from  the 
road,  with  door-yard  planted  with  balsams  and  mountain- 
ash,  and  a  row  of  sugar  maples  along  the  fence.  It  lies  on 
the  hill-side  which  slopes  down  to  the  valley  of  the  Sheko- 
meko Kill. 

Having  partaken  of  a  well-served  dinner,  our  party,  which 
had  by  this  time  increased  to  twenty,  set  out  for  Biittner's 
grave.  Passing  through  a  lane  in  a  southwesterly  direction, 
we  entered  a  pasture  on  rising  ground,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
were  gathered  around  the  spot  where  repose  the  remains 
of  the  young  and  lamented  missionary.  A  slight  depression 
in  the  soil,  and  the  protruding  edge  of  the  remaining  por- 
tion of  the  heavy  limestone,  are  all  that  mark  the  place. 
AVe  read  the  account  of  his  sufferings  and  death  from  Los- 
kiel,  and  wondered  that  one  so  fearless  and  devoted  should 
have  lain  here  so  long  uncared  for,  the  mound  that  was 


60  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW   YOEK 

raised  over  him  levelled  with  the  sod  around,  and  his  rest- 
ing-place forgotten. 

The  rediscovery  of  Biittner's  grave  is  due  to  Mr. 
Davis's  indefatigable  industry  in  following  up  the  traces  of 
early  Moravian  labor  in  Duchess  County.  In  1854  this 
gentleman  interested  Mr.  Hunting  in  the  search  for  the 
spot.  There  was  but  one  person  living  from  whom  any 
reliable  information  could  be  obtained  in  reference  to  it — 
Mr.  Josiah  Winans,  a  descendant  of  a  former  proprietor  of 
the  farm.  He  had  worked  on  it  near  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  and  it  was  said  he  could  without  doubt  determine 
the  precise  locality  of  the  grave.  On  being  brought  to  the 
field,  Mr.  Winans  drove  a  stake  into  the  ground,  declaring 
that  the  remains  of  Biittner  were  buried  within  a  rod  of 
the  same,  adding  that  the  first  large  stone  the  plough  would 
strike,  would  prove  a  fragment  of  the  old  gravestone.  His 
assertion  was  soon  verified ;  for  the  plough  had  cut  but  a 
few  furrows,  when  the  share  caught  in  and  turned  up  the 
slab  that  lay  a  few  inches  below  the  surface.  It  was  allowed 
to  remain  on  the  spot,  and  is  all  that  marks  the  site  of  the 
grave.  Since  its  rediscovery,  Mr.  Hunting  has  kept  the 
ground  sacred;  and,  on  the  present  occasion,  expressed  a 
wish  that  some  memorial  might  be  erected  to  secure  it 
inviolate  for  the  future,  and  to  keep  in  remembrance  the 
resting-place  of  a  good  man  in  a  land  of  strangers. 

Of  the  earlier  condition  and  fortunes  of  the  grave,  we 
ascertained  the  following  facts :  During  the  proprietorship 
of  James  Winans,  between  1762  and  1797,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  remove  the  stone,  which,  standing  upright  in 
the  middle  of  a  field,  proved  an  obstacle  to  its  cultivation. 
A  yoke  of  oxen  and  three  horses  were,  however,  unable  to 
draw  the  large  and  heavy  slab  from  the  ground.  It  was 
allowed  to  stand.  About  1806  some  thoughtless  boys  who 
attended  the  district  school-house,  as  they  passed  to  and  fro. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  61 

were  wont  to  gather  about  the  grave  of  the  unknown  man, 
and  succeeded  in  gradually  demolishing  the  memorial.  It  is 
said  that  one  of  the  number,  who  protested  against  the  sacri- 
legious act  on  the  part  of  his  comrades,  is  the  sole  survivor 
of  the  party.  Shortly  after  this,  the  grave  was  searched 
for  treasure ;  tradition  saying  that  an  Indian  warrior  lay 
buried  there,  with  a  rifle  of  costly  workmanship.  But  there 
was  nothing  found  except  a  skull  and  bones,  and  portions 
of  pine  boards — the  remains  of  the  missionary  and  of  the 
narrow  house  in  which  he  had  been  consigned  to  the  earth. 
The  fragments  of  the  stone  were  replaced,  but  they  gradu- 
ally were  scattered,  and  the  plough  and  harrow  finished  the 
work  of  destruction.  Soon  after  Mr.  Hunting  came  into 
possession  of  the  farm,  in  1829,  he  found  part  of  the  grave- 
stone built  up  in  a  stone  wall.  It  was  removed  within 
doors,  became  an  object  of  curiosity  to  visitors,  and  eventu- 
ally passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Poughkeepsie  Lyceum. 
Our  next  object  was  to  determine  the  site  of  the  old 
Indian  village.  We  were  shown,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to 
the  southeast  of  the  grave,  what  were  deemed  relics  of  the 
settlement,  an  old  apple-tree,  a  pile  of  stones,  said  to  have 
been  the  foundation  of  a  "  sweat-house,"  and  a  basin  in  the 
brook  that  comes  down  the  hill-side,  where  the  Moravian 
preacher  used  to  dip  the  Indian  children  ill  with  small- 
pox; but  these  traditions  we  found  difficult  to  reconcile 
with  a  sketch  of  Shekomeko  as  it  was  in  1745,  which  we 
had  brought  along  to  aid  us  in  our  researches.  There  was 
strong  disagreement  between  tradition  and  history.  To  the 
latter  we  resolved  to  keep,  and  accordingly  set  out  on  a 
tour  of  reconnoissance,  fully  confident  that  the  missionary's 
pen-and-ink  sketch  would  form  an  infallible  guide  to  the 
missionary's  converts'  homes.  As  we  advanced,  we  com- 
pared the  picture  with  the  original.  We  ascended  a  hill  on 
the  east,  but  found  ourselves  mistaken  in  the  position.     To 


62  MORAVIANS  IN   NEW   YORK 

our  right  there  was  but  one  point  from  which  the  drawing 
could  have  been  taken,  and  that  was  a  well-wooded  moun- 
tain, promising  a  difficult  ascent.  Four  of  our  party,  in- 
cluding Mr.  Davis,  set  out  to  make  it.  Mrs.  Lossing,  too, 
inspired  with  the  excitement  of  the  search,  ventured  to  join 
the  number;  nor  was  she  second  to  any  in  resolution  of 
purpose  to  surmount  all  obstacles.  Having  passed  through 
the  meadow  Avhere  the  brethren,  white  and  Indian,  had  their 
separate  planting-grounds,  we  began  the  ascent.  Pushing 
aside  the  brush,  and  treading  under  foot  the  flora  of  medi- 
cinal herbs  that  sprang  in  exuberance  from  the  rich  black 
mould,  we  forced  our  way  upward  in  the  dark  shade  of 
trees,  through  whose  boughs  solitary  sunbeams  struggled  to 
strike  upon  the  humid  ground  below.  The  white  birch  we 
found  an  inhabitant  of  these  woods ;  but  the  red  man,  who 
had  wrought  its  pliant  bark  into  the  light  canoe,  was  gone, 
and  we  found  nought  to  call  him  to  mind  but  a  single  moc- 
casin that  bloomed  in  solitary  beauty  on  the  soil  that  had 
often  been  pressed  by  the  buckskinned  foot  of  the  Indian 
hunter.  Arrived  at  the  summit,  we  found  ourselves  on 
commanding  ground,  and  soon  determined  the  outline  and 
detail  of  the  sketch,  for  we  stood  on  the  spot  from  which  it 
had  been  taken.  Below  us,  at  a  mile's  distance,  was  the 
pasture  with  Biittner's  grave;  behind  it  rose  the  hills  of 
the  middle  ground,  and  along  the  margin  of  the  horizon, 
eastward,  stretched  the  ethereal  forms  of  the  blue  Tagh- 
kanic. 

It  was  with  no  little  satisfaction  that  we  returned  to  our 
party,  enabled  as  we  now  were  to  fix  the  site  of  the  village. 
A  ploughed  field,  that  slopes  southward  of  Biittner's  grave 
to  the  meadow,  embraces  its  limits.  Perhaps  eighteen  feet 
intervene  between  where  the  missionary  lies,  and  where 
the  Indian  huts  were  ranged  in  a  crescent  around  the  little 
bark-covered  church.     Our  artist  took  his  first  sketch  from 


AND  CONNECTICUT. 


63 


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64:  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

the  meadow,  looking  westward.  The  setting  sun  had  just 
for  the  last  time  painted  with  purple  and  gold  a  cloud  that 
rested  on  Stissing ;  the  lengthening  shadows  fast  blend- 
ing into  the  shades  of  evening,  had  warned  the  plough-boy 
in  the  adjoining  field  to  unyoke  his  steers;  and  stillness 
touched  the  rural  landscape  with  inexpressible  beauty  as 
we  bade  farewell  to  scenes  that  are  consecrated  to  the  me- 
mory of  self-denying  labors  of  Christian  love.  Here  had 
lived  Kauch,  Biittner,  and  Mack,  perilling  their  lives  for  the 
souls  of  degenerate  heathen,  and  accomplishing  triumphs, 
which,  though  unknown  to  the  world,  are  recorded  in  the 
book  of  God's  eternal  remembrance. 

When  we  reached  Mr.  Hunting's,  we  found  the  rest  of 
the  party  about  leaving  for  Mr.  Theron  Wilber's,  by  whom 
arrangements  had  been  kindly  made  to  have  us  spend  the 
night.  We  were  accompanied  by  Mr.  Hunting,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Sill,  and  several  of  the  neighbors,  whose  interest  in  our 
mission  had  evidently  increased.  A  short  ride  brought  us 
to  Mr.  Wilber's  seat,  at  the  north  end  of  a  beautiful  sheet 
of  water  (Buttermilk  Pond,  now  called  Halcyon  Lake) — 
one  of  those  numerous  lakes  which  are  a  characteristic  geo- 
logical formation  of  this  section  of  New  York.  A  party  of 
our  host's  friends  (including  Drs.  Guernsey  and  Smith,  Mr. 
Peck,  and  several  ladies)  from  the  village  of  Pine  Plains, 
two  miles  above,  had  been  invited  to  meet  us,  and  their 
agreeable  society  added  largely  to  the  pleasures  of  the  even- 
ing. The  gathering  at  "Halcyon  Hall"  has  altogether  left 
a  most  pleasing  impression.  After  a  sumptuous  tea,  the 
honors  of  which  Mr.  Wilber  did  in  person,  the  time  was 
diversified  by  strolling  in  the  green  lawn,  boating,  and 
conversation  on  the  broad  piazza,  that  overlooks  the  lovely 
picture.  The  brilliant  lights  within  the  hall,  and  the  moon 
overhead  silvering  the  bosom  of  the  placid  lake,  whose 
repose  was  disturbed  only  by  the  distant  stroke  of  the  oar, 


AND   COXNECTICUT.  65 

and  the  cry  of  tlic  whippoorwill  from  the  side  of  Stissing, 
that  lay  in  deep  shadow  in  the  Avest,  was  a  scene  altogether 
of  f\iiry  characters.  We  were  uncoaisciously  carried  back 
to  the  days  of  Biittner,  for  hither  he  and  his  Indians  were 
wont  to  come  to  slioot  the  duck  and  spear  the  pickerel.  It 
was  a  late  hour  when  the  company  separated,  for  all  were 
loatli  to  shorten  the  delights  of  the  lovely  summer's  night. 

Having  bid  adieu  to  our  courteous  host  on  Thursday 
morning,  we  returned  past  Mr.  Hunting's,  crossed  the  She- 
komeko  Kill,  and  a  mile  beyond  drew  up  according  to 
appointment  at  Mr.  Samuel  Deuel's  for  breakfast.  On  our 
way  we  had  a  full  view  of  the  Shekomeko  Mountain,  which 
lies  parallel  with  Stissing  (three  miles  intervening  between 
the  two),  and  is  its  exact  counterpart  in  miniature.  From 
this  hill  the  creek  receives  its  name,  Shekomeko,  according 
to  tradition  signifying  "the  little  mountain."  Stissing  has 
the  name  borne  by  an  Indian,  who  once  lived  in  the  gap 
which  forms  a  transit  over  the  mountain,  two  miles  from 
its  northern  extremity. 

At  Mr.  Deuel's  we  took  leave  of  Mr.  Sill  and  his  wife. 
After  an  excellent  breakfast  and  many  kind  attentions,  at 
9  o'clock  A.  M.  we  set  out  for  Indian  Pond,  ten  miles 
further  to  the  east,  the  site  of  the  Wechquadnach  (properly 
Pachquadnach)  station,  where  lie  the  remains  of  the  mis- 
sionary David  Bruce.  Our  road  lay  over  an  extremely 
rough  country.  From  the  summit  of  Winchell  Mountain 
we  again  had  a  commanding  prospect.  Extending  along 
the  western  line  of  the  horizon  were  the  Shawangunk  and 
Katskill  Mountains,  and  on  the  eastern  the  Taghkanic. 

At  noon  we  arrived  at  the  farm  of  Mr.  Douglas  Clarke, 
in  North  East  Centre,  where  we  were  hospitably  entertained, 
and  where  one  of  the  party,  who  was  indisposed,  experi- 
enced much  kindness.  After  dinner,  Mr.  Clarke,  a  venera- 
ble man  of  eighty-three,  and  his  son.  Col.  Hiram  Clarke, 


QQ  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW  YORK 

led  the  way  to  the  spot  where  the  mission  house  stood,  and 
where  lie  the  remains  of  Brother  Joseph  Powell.  The  site 
of  Powell's  grave  is  marked  by  a  ledge  of  slate  rock  on  high 
ground  in  a  pasture,  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of 
the  farm-house.  The  tombstone  was  removed  by  Mr. 
Clarke  some  years  ago  to  insure  its  preservation,  and  with 
several  others  stands  against  the  stone  wall  in  an  adjoining 
orchard.  It  is  a  headstone  of  dark  slate,  and  stood  erect 
in  the  ground,  contrary  to  Moravian  usage,  which  fact,  as 
well  as  the  inscription,  "The  Rev.  Joseph  Powell,  died  1744, 
se.  63,"  would  seem  to  intimate  that  it  was  a  tribute  at  the 
hands  of  the  settlers  to  the  memory  of  their  home  mis- 
sionary. 

The  circumstances  that  brought  Brother  Powell  into  this 
neighborhood,  long  after  the  abandonment  of  the  Indian 
mission,  were  as  follows:  On  the  death  of  Bruce  in  1749, 
the  whites  about  Wechquadnach  expressed  a  wish  to 
have  a  Moravian  brother  minister  to  them  in  spiritual 
things.  To  this  Brother  Christian  Froehlich  alludes  in  a 
report  written  from  Pachgatgoch  in  1752,  in  which  he 
says:  "Our  Br.  Bruce  was  much  beloved  by  both  whites 
and  Indians,  who  deplore  his  early  loss.  The  former  desire 
a  brother  to  preach  them  the  Gospel,  and  have  permitted 
me  to  put  a  stone  on  Br.  David's  grave,  and  then  inclose  it 
with  a  fence."  In  May  of  the  same  year  a  letter  was  sent 
to  Bethlehem  reiterating  the  request,  and  met  with  a 
response;  for  in  July  of  1753,  Brother  Abraham  Reinke 
was  despatched  on  a  visitation.  In  his  report  he  states 
that  during  his  sojourn  of  eight  weeks  he  preached  twenty 
times,  to  large  audiences,  sometimes  numbering  three  hun- 
dred souls.  His  appointments  were  at  Salisbury  and  Sha- 
ron, Conn.,  and  in  the  "  Oblong,"  in  "  Nine  Partners,"  and 
at  Livingston's  Manor,  in  Duchess  County,  N.  Y. 

The  Oblong  (which  name  is  still  retained)  he  describes 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  67 

as  "a  tract  of  land  seventy  to  eighty  miles  in  length,  by 
two  in  breadth,  on  the  confines  of  Connecticut,  by  which  it 
had  been  transferred  to  New  York  in  exchange  for  other 
lands.  The  settlers  had  come  over  from  Connecticut  five 
years  ago,  in  expectation  of  bettering  their  fortunes  by  the 
purchase  of  cheap  farms,  and  for  the  enjoyment  of  religious 
liberty."  A  second  letter,  subscribed  by  thirty-four  of  his 
stated  hearers,  and  addressed  "  to  the  United  Brethren  at 
Bethlehem,"  was  given  to  Brother  Reinke  on  his  return.'- 
He  was  succeeded  by  other  brethren,  and  thus  this  vicinity 
was  recognized  as  a  home  mission  field,  in  which  Powell 
was  one  of  the  last  to  labor. 

Of  the  Wechquadnach  mission  house  there  is  no  trace ; 
old  Mr.  Clarke,  however,  pointed  to  where  it  had  stood 
within  his  recollection.  Tradition  has  preserved  nothing 
of  the  site  of  the  Indian  village.     As  our  missionaries,  in 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter,  preserved  in  the  Bethlehem 
archives : — 

"  To  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  at  Bethlehem: — 

"  We  cannot  but  return  our  hearty  thanks,  not  only  for  your  kind  an- 
swer to  our  letter  dated  May,  lt52,  but  more  especially  for  the  favor  of 
sending  us  a  minister  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
has  been  with  us  for  two  months ;  and  since  he  is  now  returning  home,  and 
you  desire  to  know  our  minds  in  this  affair,  this  is  to  let  you  know  that  we 
are  exceedingly  well  satisfied,  and  think  ourselves  much  benefited,  as  well 
by  the  gospel  sermons  of  Mr.  Reinke,  as  also  by  the  conversation  we  had 
with  him,  being  thereby  confirmed  in  the  choice  we  have  made  of  one  of 
the  United  Brethren  to  be  our  minister.  And  now  our  sincere  desire  is  to 
have  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  continued  among  us,  for  we  believe  it  is 
the  power  of  God  to  salvation  to  all  them  that  believe.  If  we,  therefore, 
could  have  either  Mr.  Reinke  again,  if  it  could  be,  or,  if  not,  some  one  else 
of  the  United  Brethren  to  settle  among  us,  we  should  look  upon  it  as  a 
very  great  favor.  We  don't  doubt  it  will  prove  a  blessing  not  only  to  us 
but  also  to  many  of  our  neighbors.  We  are  in  general  in  low  circum- 
stances in  the  world,  but,  however,  we  hope  to  be  able  to  support  the  min- 
ister that  comes  in  a  comfortable  manner.     And  since  we  believe  your  aim 


68  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

writing  of  Wecliquadnach,  never  distinctly  allude  to  one, 
there  is  room  for  the  presumption  that  the  dwellings  of  the 
Indians  were  scattered  along  the  western  shore  of  the  lake, 
inasmuch  as  the  nature  of  the  ground  is  such  as  would  have 
led  them  to  select  it  for  planting  purposes. 

Leaving  these  faint  memorials,  on  descending  the  hill, 
there  lay  at  our  feet  "  Indian  Pond,"  a  fine  sheet  of  water 
full  a  mile  in  length.  Our  missionaries  call  it  "Gnaden- 
See"  (Lake  of  Grace).  It  lies  partly  in  the  Oblong,  and 
partly  in  Sharon  Township,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut. 
Across  this  beautiful  lake  the  Indian  brethren  conveyed  the 
remains  of  their  beloved  teacher  to  the  Connecticut  side  for 
interment  in  their  own  burial  place. 

Bruce's  labors  among  the  Indians  of  Wecliquadnach  and 
Pachgatgoch  were  short.  In  January,  1749,  he  commenced 
them,  and  as  early  as  July  he  had  entered  into  the  joy  of 
his  Lord.^ 

is  to  gain  souls  for  Christ,  we  don't  scruple  but  you  will  take  our  case  into 
consideration,  we  being  destitute  of  a  minister  and  school,  and  grant  us 
our  request. 
Signed : — 

AZARIAH  SMITH,  CALEB  WOODWORTH, 

STEPHEN  HIGBEE,  GERSHOM  WOODWORTH, 

DAVID  PHELPS,  WILLIAM  ENOS, 

JAMES  PARKE,  ANDREW  MOREHOUSE, 

ELISHA  COLVER,  JONATHAN  PHELPS, 

TIMOTHY  EDWARDS,  PHINEAS  HOLCOMB, 

JAMES  ALLWORTH,  JOHN  HARRIS, 

MARTIN  WINCHELL,  ZEPHANIAH  HARVEY, 

ROBERT  WINCHELL,  DERRICK  JOHNSON, 

BENJAMIN  BRUCE,  JOHN  WOODCOCK, 

DANIEL  HIGBEE,  JEDEDIAH  MORE, 

JONATHAN  RONALS,  EDMOND  EDMONDS, 

GIDEON  MOORE,  JOSEPH  PARKE, 

ASHBEL  MOORE,  EBENEZER  HURLBUT, 

GEORGE  RICHMOND,  JONATHAN  MOORE, 

PETER  CASWELL,  SIMON  MOORE, 

STEPHEN  CASWELL,  ZEBULON  MOSES. 

1  The  diary  of  the  Bethlehem  congregation  for  1149  gives  the  following 
in  relation  to  his  death:    "July  13//?.  Toward  evening  the  two  Indian 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  69 

We  followed  the  same  path  on  the  north  side  of  the 
pond  as  the  mourners  had  done  when  accompanying  his 
remains  to  their  last  home.  Half  an  hour's  walk  along  the 
foot  of  Indian  Mountain  brought  us  to  the  farm  of  Mr. 
Andrew  Lake,  in  Sharon  Township.  Here  we  were  met  by 
his  son,  Mr.  Lake,  Gen,  Charles  F.  Sedgwick,  and  Mr. 
Richard  Smith,  of  Sharon  village.  Mr.  Lake,  who  is  now 
eighty  years  of  age,  pointed  out  the  site  of  Bruce's  grave, 
in  the  meadow  where  we  met,  a  few  rods  from  the  edge  of 

brethren,  Samuel  and  Gottlob,  arrived  from  Pachgatgoch  with  the  intelli- 
gence that  Br.  Bruce  had  been  lying  seriously  indisposed  in  the  mission 
house  at  Wechquadnach  already  for  a  week.  It  was  deemed  advisable  to 
have  a  brother  visit  him,  and  accordingly  Br.  Post  was  despatched  with- 
out delay. 

"  July  22d.  At  noon  Moses's  son  came  from  "Wechquadnach  with  letters 
from  Br.  Post,  stating  that  on  his  arrival  Br.  Bruce  was  no  more,  having 
departed  on  the  9th  inst.,  a  short  time  after  Samuel  and  Gottlob  had  left 
for  Bethlehem.     On  the  6th  inst.,  after  his  return  from  Westenhuc,  or 
Wannaquatiksk,  writes  Br.  Post,  our  brother  was  taken  ill,  and  although 
he  suffered  much  pain,  was  in  a  happy  frame  of  mind.     Shortly  l)efore  his 
release,  a  neighbor  called  to  see  him,  and  on  asking  him  how  he  did,  Bruce 
replied,  not  well  1     'But  you  are  prepared  to  go  into  the  heavenly  father- 
land,' added  the  other.    '  Yes  !'  he  answered,  '  I  shall  soon  see  my  Saviour.' 
Our  Indian  brethren,  Moses  and  Joshua,  were  his  constant  attendants 
during  his  illness.     A  short  time  before  his  end,  taking  their  hands  into 
his  own,  he  pressed  them  to  his  heart,  and  entreated  them  to  hold  fast  to 
the  Saviour.     Some  English  neighbors  assisted  our  Indians  in  making 
preparations  for  intemng  his  remains.     The  former,  to   whom  he  had 
endeared  himself,  procured  linen,  and  the  body  was  laid  out  in  white.    The 
funeral  service  was  attended  by  many  friends.     Joshua,  son  of  Gideon  of 
Pachgatgoch,  delivered  a  discourse  in  Indian,  reminding  his  hearers  of  all 
that  their  teacher  had  told  them  of  the  Saviour's  love,  and  many  were  the 
tears  that  moistened  the  dark  cheek  of  that  mourning  and  bereft  assembly. 
The  body  was  then  put  on  two  canoes,  and  carried  over  '  Gnaden  See,'  the 
brethren  and  friends  taking  their  way  along  the  bank  to  the  place  of  burial, 
amidst  the  singing  of  hymn  tunes.     At  the  grave  Br.  Gideon  offered  a 
prayer,  and  thus  was  buried  the  first  of  our  number  among  the  hills  and 
yalleys  of  New  England." 
6 


70  MOKAVIANS   IN   NEW   YOKK 

the  pond.  As  at  Pachgatgocli  (as  we  ascertained  later),  so 
here  the  Indians  buried  their  dead  on  low  ground;  whether 
these  were  exceptional  instances,  or  whether  it  was  a  custom, 
is  a  question  of  interest  yet  to  be  decided.  Mr.  Lake  stated 
that  he  had  been  brought  up  at  the  outlet  of  the  pond,  that 
when  a  boy  he  had  gone  to  school  in  the  old  mission  house 
at  the  "  Powell  Place,"  and  that  he  had  a  distinct  recollec- 
tion of  Bruce's  grave,  and  the  stone  standing  at  its  head. 
When  the  farm  was  held  by  Mr.  Moses  Clark  (from  whom 
it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Lyman  Bradley,  Mr.  Lake's 
predecessor),  the  grave,  long  neglected,  had  been  ploughed 
with  the  rest  of  the  field.  About  fifteen  years  ago,  Mr. 
Lake  found  the  fragment  of  the  headstone  built  up  in  a 
stone  wall.  It  was  shown  to  us  at  the  house.  It  is  of  dark 
slate,  and  contains  the  following  parts  of  the  original  in- 
scription : — 

Br 

nburgh  in 

D,  Minister  of  the 

ETHRENs'  Church 

G  THE  Indians 

PARTED  1'749. 

The  epitaph,  as  given  by  Loskiel,  reads  thus:  "David 
Bruce,  from  Edinburgh,  in  Scotland,  a  Minister  of  the 
Brethrens'  Church  among  the  Indians,  departed  1749." 

While  cultivating  the  meadow,  from  time  to  time  indi- 
cations of  other  graves,  besides  that  of  the  missionary,  have 
been  observed.  Mr.  Lake  intimated  the  pleasure  it  would 
aiford  him  to  co-operate  with  any  that  might  wish  to  erect 
a  memorial  on  the  spot.  A  few  yards  west  of  the  grave  is 
a  narrow  slate  ridge,  twenty  feet  high,  which  has  never 
been  cut  by  the  share.  This  elevation  he  suggested  as  a 
suitable  point.  It  overlooks  the  pond,  afi'ords  a  view  of  the 
mission  lands  on  the  northwest  shore,  and  to  the  south  dis- 


AND  CONNECTICUT.  71 

closes  the  bold  hills  of  rachgatgoch.  Hither  Bmce's  and 
Powell's  remains  might  be  transferred,  and  what  fitter  rest- 
ing-place than  this,  which  so  beautifully  looks  down  upon 
the  scenes  of  their  former  labors'? 

At  5  P.  M.  we  left  Mr.  Lake's  farm-house,  accompanied 
by  Messrs.  Sedge  wick  and  Smith  as  far  as  the  village  of 
Sharon,  three  miles  to  the  southeast.  Sharon  is  a  pretty 
New  England  village,  with  white  frame  houses  set  back 
from  the  wide  grass-grown  streets,  almost  buried  in  maples 
and  elms,  the  favorite  shade  trees  of  this  country.  On 
making  a  turn  in  the  road,  we  saw  it  high  above  us  on  a 
hill-top,  the  rays  of  the  declining  sun  lighting  up  spire  and 
churchyard,  the  marble  tombstones  glittering  like  mounds 
of  driven  snow.  We  had  yet  fourteen  miles  to  accomplish 
to  our  journey's  end,  but  the  drive  was  exceedingly  plea- 
sant, through  a  diversified  country,  and  on  a  lovely  sum- 
mer's evening. 

It  was  dark  when  we  reached  the  village  of  Kent,  the 
terminus  of  the  day's  varied  scenes  and  incidents.  It  lies 
on  the  Housatonic  Eailroad,  fifty  miles  north  of  Bridge- 
port. At  the  "  Railroad  House "  we  had  excellent  accom- 
modations, and  likevv^ise  a  friendly  disposition  on  the  part  of 
our  landlord  and  of  the  residents  of  the  place  to  give  us  all 
possible  information  relative  to  the  old  station  at  Pachgat- 
goch.  Our  thanks  are  especially  due  to  Messrs.  John 
Spooner,  John  Raymond,  Alden  Swift,  Rufus  Fuller,  and 
Dr.  Beardsley,  most  of  whom  are  advanced  in  years,  and 
repositories  of  history  and  tradition  that  proved  highly 
interesting. 

On  Friday  morning  our  party  set  out  for  the  last  time  in 
company,  to  visit  the  Pachgatgoch  place,  two  miles  to  the 
southwest  of  Kent. 

Pachgatgoch  (properly  Pishgachtigok),  along  with  Wech- 
quadnach,  were  Indian  settlements,  visited  by  Rauch  as 


72  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

early  as  1742.  Intercourse  between  these  places  and  She- 
komeko  led  to  stated  visitations  on  the  part  of  the  mission- 
aries, and  finally  to  their  occupation.  In  January  of  1743, 
Brother  Martin  Mack  and  his  wife  took  up  their  abode  at 
Pishgachtigok.  The  Brethren  Froehlich,  Bueninger  (Binin- 
ger),  and  Senseman,  likewise  labored  in  this  field.  In  1764 
Pishgachtigok  had  not  yet  been  deserted.  Wechquadnach 
was  abandoned  in  July  of  1753.  Other  Indian  settlements 
in  this  neighborhood,  where  the  Gospel  was  preached  by 
Moravian  missionaries,  were  Westenhuc  and  Wehtak.  The 
former,  in  all  probability,  lay  on  the  site  of  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Housatonic,  north  of  Great  Barrington,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, the  name,  "Westenhuc,"  being  merely  a  modifi- 
cation of  Hoosatenuc,  whence  the  modern  Housatonic. 
Wehtak,  or  Wyatiack,  would  seem  to  have  been  near 
Salisbury,  in  Litchfield  County,  Conn.  Potatik,  according 
to  Mr.  Davis,  lay  on  the  east  side  of  the  Housatonic, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Poughtatuck  Creek,  and  about 
three  miles  northeast  of  Newtown,  Conn.  The  locality 
still  bears  the  name,  and  the  old  Indian  burying  ground  is 
still  pointed  out.  In  heavy  freshets  bones  are  frequently 
washed  out  by  the  river.  The  Indians  who  dwelt  in  these 
villages  were  lingering  remnants  of  several  New  England 
tribes,  such  as  Narragansets,  Pequods,  and  Wampanoags; 
the  latter  excelled  in  numbers. 

Of  the  history  of  the  Pishgachtigok  Indians  we  are 
indebted  for  the  following  account  to  several  of  the  gentle- 
men we  met  at  Kent  village.  After  the  treacherous  death 
of  King  Philip,  the  English  colonists,  bent  on  the  extermi- 
nation of  his  faithful  adherents,  waged  a  relentless  war. 
A  body  of  Connecticut  troops  drove  a  part  of  his  men  into 
New  York,  and  only  desisted  from  the  pursuit  when  the 
Indians  had  buried  themselves  in  the  thickets  of  an  island 
in  the  morasses  of  Swamp    River.      Here   the   fugitives 


AND   CONNECTICUT,  73 

resolved  to  build  their  new  liomes,  although  they  sighed 
for  the  liberty  of  the  boundless  forest.  Cautiously  at  first 
they  would  leave  their  retreat  to  hunt  the  deer  on  the 
neigliboring  hills.  One  day,  in  pursuit  of  a  buck,  they  were 
carried  by  the  excitement  of  the  chase  beyond  their  accus- 
tomed range,  and  when  evening  set  in,  they  found  them- 
selves on  the  summit  of  a  well-wooded  mountain,  and  look- 
ing down,  they  saw  rich  corn  lands  below,  washed  by  the 
waters  of  a  lovely  stream.  Here  were  homes  for  them. 
The  river  they  called  Hoosatenuc,  for  they  had  come  "  over 
the  mountain,"  and  the  corn  lands  "Pishgachtigok,"  for  they 
lay  on  "  the  confluence  of  two  streams."  This  migration  is 
referred  to  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  The  rights 
of  the  new  comers  were  henceforth  recognized  by  the  Eng- 
lish, and  a  superintendent  appointed  to  administer  their 
affairs.  Mr.  Swift's  grandfather,  an  emigrant  from  Cape 
Cod,  filled  the  office  about  the  time  our  missionaries  arrived. 

The  descendants  of  these  "  King  Philip's  men  "  are  still 
in  possession  of  a  tract  of  three  or  four  hundred  acres  of 
mountain  woodland,  and  from  the  sales  of  a  part  of  the  ori- 
ginal tract  have  the  benefit  of  an  income  arising  from  a 
fund  of  five  thousand  dollars.  They  are  called  the  Schagh- 
ticoke  Indians,  the  word  an  evident  corruption  of  Pishgach- 
tigok. Of  the  fifty  survivors,  there  are  but  three  or  four  in 
whose  veins  flows  the  uncontaminated  blood  of  the  Pequods. 
An  overseer  is  appointed  by  the  Superior  Court  of  the 
County,  to  apply  the  proceeds  of  the  fund  towards  their 
subsistence,  which  would  otherwise  be  but  precarious,  cul- 
tivating as  they  do  only  a  few  acres  of  corn  and  beans,  and 
depending  largely  on  the  fisheries  in  the  river.  Mr.  Rufus 
Fuller  is  the  present  Superintendent  of  the  "Indian  Re- 
serve" at  Pachgatgoch. 

Driving  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Housatonic,  we  soon 
reached  the  "  Reserve."     The  valley  here  is  very  narrow. 


74  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

flanked  on  the  right  by  the  Pachgatgoch  mountain.  At  in- 
tervals along  the  road,  on  the  hill-side,  we  passed  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  Indians,  small  log  or  frame  houses,  surrounded 
by  little  patches  of  cultivated  ground.  At  the  second  of 
these  we  drew  up.  It  was  the  house  of  Eunice  Mahwee 
(Aunt  Eunice  is  her  familiar  name),  the  oldest  relic  of  her 
tribe,  and  a  monument  of  bygone  days ;  for  when  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  broke  out  Eunice  was  an  Indian  maiden  of 
fifteen  summers.  To  our  party  she  was  an  object  of  pecu- 
liar interest,  for  in  her  we  saw  the  grandchild  of  the  good 
Gideon  Mahweesman,  the  first  convert  to  the  Gospel  at 
Pachgatgoch,  who  received  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Martin 
Mack  on  the  13th  of  February,  1T43.  On  entering  the 
yard  we  were  accosted  by  her  granddaughter,  Lavina,  an 
intelligent  looking  woman  of  forty.  Dressed  in  a  faded 
calico  gown,  with  a  man's  straw  hat  on  her  head,  poverty 
could  not  disguise  the  race  whence  she  had  sprung;  the 
piercing  almond  eyes,  the  aquiline  nose,  and  the  nervous 
play  of  the  slender  nostrils,  all  bespoke  the  Indian.  By  her 
we  were  shown  into  the  cottage.  The  furniture  embraced 
only  what  was  indispensable :  a  few  chairs  and  a  table,  on 
which  latter  stood  a  dish  of  newly-taken  lamprey  eels.  The 
accounts  of  the  missionaries  came  vividly  to  mind  as  we 
saw  these,  for  they  often  speak  of  the  absence  of  their  In- 
dians in  quest  of  lamprey  and  silver  eels  at  the  New  Millpond 
dam,  ten  miles  below.  By  the  open  fireplace,  enjoying  the 
genial  warmth  of  the  blazing  twigs,  on  a  rush-bottomed 
chair,  sat  old  Eunice.  Age  had  wrinkled  and  bleached  the 
venerable  dame,  but  her  short  thick-set  form  indicated  the 
robust  constitution  that  could  endure  the  vicissitudes  of  a 
century.  In  the  doorway  of  the  adjoining  apartment,  with 
a  babe  in  her  arms,  stood  Laura,  Lavina's  daughter,  a 
young  woman  of  scarcely  twenty,  whose  raven  tresses  and 
mild  black  eyes  would  have  rivalled  the  beauties  of  the 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  75 

bravest  warrior's  bride.  Here  was  a  picture  for  the  artist, 
and  a  subject  for  the  poet.  Helpless  old  age  and  helpless 
infancy  side  by  side ;  the  limits  of  five  generations  of  men 
"  that  fade  like  forest  leaves."  Eunice  is  still  in  possession 
of  her  faculties,  although  age  has  rendered  their  action 
sluggish.  On  being  questioned,  she  seldom  failed  to  give 
an  answer,  though  she  needed  time  for  reflection.  It  was 
interesting  to  watch  the  workings  of  her  mind,  as  inter- 
preted by  the  expression  of  her  countenance.  When  at  a 
loss  she  would  fix  her  eyes  on  the  ground,  as  though  to 
draw  her  attention  from  external  objects,  sit  a  few  minutes 
in  deep  thought,  raise  her  head  deliberately,  and  in  mea- 
sured words,  that  rung  with  the  music  of  a  melodious  voice, 
give  the  response  that  was  to  satisfy  our  inquiries.  Of  the 
Moravian  preachers  she  had  often  heard.  She  told  us  how 
it  was  their  custom  to  come,  first  one,  then  another,  singly, 
stay  for  a  short  time,  and  next  they  would  be  accompanied 
by  their  women.  The  Presbyterians  were  no  friends  of  the 
Moravians,  she  gravely  observed.  Gideon,  her  grandfather, 
she  had  never  seen,  although  she  knew  he  had  been  an 
exhorter  among  his  people,  nor  had  she  ever  visited  She- 
komeko.  Besides  imparting  other  intelligence  of  this  na- 
ture, rather  general,  it  is  true,  yet  satisfactory,  she  gave  us 
the  pronunciation  and  meaning  of  Indian  names  of  places, 
which  in  the  absence  of  other  authority,  we  presume  may 
be  regarded  as  correct.  Shekomeko,  as  we  usually  pro- 
nounce the  word,  she  ignored.  Accentuated  on  the  ante- 
penult sounded  "more  Indian"  to  her  ear.  The  Pachgat- 
goch  of  our  missionaries,  as  well  as  the  modern  Schaghticoke, 
she  recognizes  as  corruptions  of  Pishgachtigok,  signifying 
the  "  confluence  of  two  streams."  Housatonic  she  spoke 
Hoosatenuc,  "  over  the  mountain,"  wdth  the  accent  on  the 
first  syllable.  "Wechquadnach  she  refused  to  accept;  instead 
she  offered  Pachquadnach,  which  orthography  was  the  first 


70  MOEAYIAXS   IN   NEW   YORK 

used  by  our  missionaries,  as  reference  to  their  diaries  will 
show.  Eunice  had  known  John  Konkaput,  "  the  Stock- 
bridge,"  a  pupil  at  Nazareth  Hall  some  time  in  1787,  a 
learned  man  and  able  physician  in  his  tribe.  He  had  taken 
to  drinking,  ruined  his  worldly  prospects,  and  finally  fell  a 
victim  to  the  vice  that  is  proverbially  the  Indian's  death. 
To  some  of  the  party  Laura's  infant  was  also  an  object  of 
interest,  no  less  than  the  great-great-grandmother.  "  It  is 
a  sprightly  papoose,"  observed  a  bachelor  gentleman  of  the 
party,  taking  it  from  its  mother's  arms,  and  dandling  it  on 
his  knees,  while  a  smile  of  deliglit  illumined  the  placid 
countenance  of  the  young  mother.  On  ascertaining  that 
the  infant  was  yet  unbaptized,  it  was  suggested  that  it 
receive  the  name  "  Helen  Lossing,"  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Los- 
sing,  and  that  Mr.  Davis,  at  some  early  day,  perform  the 
baptism.  Of  the  religious  condition  of  the  modern  Schagh- 
ticoke  Indians  there  is  not  much  to  say.  Mr.  Davis  has 
perhaps  interested  himself  in  their  spiritual  wants  more 
than  any  one  else.  Ten  years  ago  Eunice  connected  her- 
self with  the  Congregational  Church. 

The  time  was  now  come  to  close  our  interesting  inter- 
view, and  likewise  to  part  with  our  travelling  companions, 
as  we  intended  taking  the  noon  train  for  Bridgeport.  Bid- 
ding adieu  to  the  Indian  household,  we  accompanied  Mr. 
Davis  and  his  wife,  and  Mr.  Lossing's  family,  to  the  lower  end 
of  the  settlement,  beyond  which  lay  their  respective  routes. 
It  was  with  unfeigned  regret  we  took  leave  of  these  excel- 
lent people,  who  had  generously  given  their  time  and  valu- 
able services  for  the  benefit  of  our  undertaking,  which, 
owing  to  their  labors,  had  resulted  in  success  we  had  not 
ventured  to  anticipate.  Not  only  are  they  eminently  worthy 
of  our  regards  in  this  respect,  but  also  of  our  grateful  re- 
membrance for  the  many  tokens  of  friendship  and  hospi- 
tality received  at  tlfeir  hands. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  77 

On  our  return  to  Kent  village,  Dr.  Beardsly,  who  had 
accompanied  us  to  the  "  Reserve,"  pointed  out  the  site  of 
the  Pachgatgoch  graveyard,  lying  in  a  meadow  near  the 
bank  of  the  river,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  John  llaymond.  This 
was  the  last  memorial  we  saw  of  these  deserted  Indian  sta- 
tions. Arrived  at  Kent  we  took  the  train  for  Bridgeport, 
and  reached  New  York  late  in  the  afternoon.  On  Saturday, 
the  18th  of  June,  the  several  members  of  our  party  left  for 
their  respective  homes,  having  thus  safely  and  successfully 
accomplished  a  tour  of  historical  reconnoissance,  which  was 
agreeably  diversified  by  reminiscences  and  landmarks  of  the 
past,  and  by  the  social  delights  of  friendly  intercourse. 


78  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 


PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE   SOCIETY,  AND   THE  DEDICATION 
OF  THE  MONUMENTS. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Moravian  Historical  Society,  held 
on  the  11th  of  July  last  (1859),  in  its  rooms  at  the  White- 
field  House,  Nazareth,  Penn.,  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution  were  adopted,  viz.: — 

Whereas,  The  Society  has  been  informed  that  several  of 
its  members  have  recently  visited  the  sites  of  Shekomeko, 
in  Duchess  County,  N.  Y.,  and  AVechquadnach,  in  Litch- 
field County,  Conn.,  scenes  of  the  labors  of  the  Brethren 
Biittner,  Bruce,  and  Powell,  among  the  Indians  and  whites 
during  the  last  century;  and, 

Whereas,  All  traces  of  the  graves  of  these  devoted  men,  no 
longer  marked  by  stones,  will  eventually  be  lost;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  with  a  view  to  cherish  the  memory  of 
good  men,  and  to  mark  for  future  generations  the  scenes 
of  their  remarkable  labors,  monuments  be  erected  over  the 
grave  of  Gottlob  Biittner,  at  Shekomeko,  and  near  the 
graves  of  David  Bruce  and  Joseph  Powell,  at  Wechquad- 
nach ;  and  that  the  following  members  of  the  Society  be 
appointed  a  committee  (with  power  to  add  to  their  number) 
to  collect  the  requisite  funds  and  superintend  the  erection 
thereof: — 

Committee. — Rev.  Sylvester  Wollb,  Bethlehem,  Chairman. 
Rt.  Rev.  Peter  Wolle,  " 

Rev.  Henry  A.  Shultz,         " 
William  C.  Reichel,  " 

Andrew  G.  Kern,  Nazareth. 
Granville  Henry,      " 
John  Beck,  Litiz. 
John  Jordan,  Jr.,  Philadelphia. 
TowNSEND  Ward,  " 

John  A.  McAllister,    " 

Rev.  Sheldon  Davis,  Pleasant  Valley,  Duchess  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Benson  J.  Lossing,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  79 

The  following  gentlemen,  having  consented  to  serve  on 
the  committee,  were  added  to  the  number,  viz.: — 

Rev.  ED^VIN  T.  Sexseman,  New  York. 

A.  BiNiNGER  Clark,         " 

Rev.  Edmund  A.  de  Schweinitz,  Philadelphia. 

Rev.  Emile  a.  de  Schweinitz,  Salem,  K  C. 

Edward  Hunting,  Pine  Plains,  Duchess  County,  N.  Y. 

Theron  Wilber,  "  '  " 

Andrew  Lake,  Sr.,  Sharon,  Litchfield  Co.,  Conn. 

The  committee  intrusted  with  the  development  of  this 
interesting  project  met  for  the  first  time  at  the  house  of  the 
Chairman,  on  the  evening  of  July  22d.  Between  this  date 
and  the  23d  of  September,  frequent  sessions  were  held,  in 
the  deliberations  of  w^hich  members  from  Philadelphia,  also, 
repeatedly  participated.  With  those  in  Duchess  County 
there  was  necessarily  a  large  exchange  of  letters,  the  cor- 
respondence on  their  part  being  mainly  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  Sheldon  Davis  and  Benson  J.  Lossing. 

Messrs.  Andrew  Lake  and  Edward  Hunting,  proprietors 
of  the  lands,  respectively,  at  Wechquadnach  and  Shekomeko, 
having  consented  to  the  erection  of  monuments,  at  the  same 
time  kindly  offering  such  assistance  as  they  could  render, 
the  committee  saw  nothing  in  the  way  of  a  successful  accom- 
plishment of  its  work.  In  order  to  afford  ample  time  for 
the  necessary  preparatory  arrangements,  the  dedication  of 
the  proposed  memorials  was  fixed  as  late  as  the  season 
would  allow,  and  the  5th  and  6th  days  of  October  desig- 
nated. 

As  to  the  monuments  themselves,  they  were  to  be  plain 
and  substantial.  Durability  of  material  rather  than  orna- 
mental beauty  was  deemed  desirable,  and  hence  a  sufficient 
sum  was  appropriated  to  have  them,  when  complete  and  in 
place,  landmarks  for  future  times.  To  avoid  the  additional 
expense  of  transportation  from  any  distant  point,  the  com- 


80  MOKAVIANS   IN  NEW  YORK 

mission  was  given  to  the  firm  of  Miller  &  Co.,  at  Pough- 
keepsie.  Messrs.  Davis  and  Lossing  cheerfully  undertook 
to  select  the  designed  material,  to  superintend  the  lettering 
of  the  inscriptions,  and  to  report  the  progress  of  the  work. 
Without  such  local  co-operation  numerous  and  irksome  in- 
conveniences would  inevitably  have  been  incurred.  Granite 
was  originally  selected  as  the  most  appropriate  material, 
but,  in  consideration  of  its  greater  cost  when  wrought,  it 
was  abandoned  and  marble  substituted. 

In  a  letter,  under  date  of  August  5th,  Mr.  Lossing  (to 
whose  artistic  taste  and  conception  the  committee  was  for- 
tunate to  be  able  to  intrust  the  designing  of  the  monuments) 
states  that  he  had  finally  contracted  for  two  obelisks,  such 
as  he  thought  would  meet  with  the  approbation  of  all  con- 
cerned; inclosing,  at  the  same  time,  a  draft  of  each  with 
the  following  explanation: — 

Shekomeko  Stone. 

Pedestal,  29  inclies  square ;  12  inches  high  ;  of  Connecticut  sandstone. 
Weighing  700  lbs. 

Base,  23  inches  square;  12  inches  high ;  with  moulding  above  2^  inches 
high.     Weighing  500  lbs. 

Shaft,  18  inches  by  15^  below ;  11  inches  by  14|  above ;  4  feet  5  inches 
high.     Weighing  1,400  lbs. 

Entire  height,  6  feet  6^  inches.     Entire  weight  2,600  lbs. 

Wechquadnach  Stone. 

Pedestal,  29  inches  square;  12  inches  high;  of  Connecticut  sandstone. 
Weighing  tOO  lbs. 

Base,  23  inches  square  ;  11  inches  high;  with  moulding  above  2^  inches 
high.     Weighing  500  lbs. 

Shaft,  18  inches  by  15^  below;  10  inches  by  8  above;  6  feet  high. 
Weighing  1,400  lbs. 

Entire  height,  8  feet  1^  inch.     Entire  weight  2,600  lbs, 

"Monuments  of  such  form  and  dimensions  of  the  finest 
Italian  marble,"  continues  Mr.  Lossing,  "the  stonecutter 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  81 

agrees  to  construct,  for  $260  00,^  which  sum  includes  trans- 
portation thirty  miles  across  tlic  country,  the  desired 
masonry  at  tlie  Buttner  grave,  and  their  erection,  and  to 
have  all  completed  before  the  first  of  October  next." 

The  following  inscriptions  were  next  prepared  and  for- 
warded to  Davis,  who,  in  Mr.  Lossing's  absence  from  home 
on  an  artistic  tour  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Hudson,  super- 
intended the  lettering  at  Poughkeepsie: — 

1.  For  the  Shekomeko  stone — 

[North  Side.] 

^  Shekomeko  Mission, 

Commenced  August  16,  1740, 

BY 

Christian  Henry  Rauch, 

erected  by  the 

Moravian  Historical  Society, 

October  5,  1859. 

[South  Side.] 

In  memory  of 

the  Mohican  Indians, 

Lazara, 

baptized  Dec.  1,  1742.  Died  Dec.  5,  1742, 

AND 

Daniel, 
baptized  Dec.  26,  1742.     Died  March  20,  1744. 

[West  Side.] 

German  inscription  that  covered  the  original  tombstone 
of  Biittner. 


*  A  further  charge  of  $16  41  cents  was  iucurred  for  lettering,  making 
the  entire  cost  $276  41. 


82  MOKAVIANS   IN   NEW   YOEK 

[East  Side.]     A  translation  of  the  foregoing. 
Here  lies  the  body 

OF 

GOTTLOB  BiJTTNER, 

WHO,  ACCORDING  TO  THE  COMMANDMENT 

OF  HIS  CRUCIFIED  GOD  AND  SaVIOUR, 

BROUGHT  THE  GLAD  TIDINGS 

TO  THE  HEATHEN,  THAT  THE 

BLOOD  OF  JeSUS 

HAD  MADE  AN  ATONEMENT  FOR  THEIR  SINS. 

As  MANY  AS  EMBRACED 

THIS  DOCTRINE  IN  FAITH  WERE  BAPTIZED 

INTO  THE  DEATH  OF  THE  LORD. 
His  LAST  PRAYER  WAS  THAT  THEY  MIGHT 

be  preserved  until  the  day  of  our 

Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

He  was  born  Dec  29,  1716, 

AND  FELL  ASLEEP  IN  THE  LORD,  FeB.  23,  1745. 

2    For  the  Wechquadnach  stone — 

[North  Side.] 

Joseph  Powell, 

a  minister  of  the  gospel 

IN  THE 

Church  of  the  United  Brethren, 

BORN,  1710, 

near  Whitechurch,  Shropshire,  England, 

DIED,  Sept.  23,  1774, 

AT  Sichem  in  the  Oblong, 

Duchess  Co.,  N.  Y. 

[South  Side.] 
David  Bruce, 

A  MINISTER  of  THE  GoSPEL 
IN  THE 

Church  op  the  United  Brethren, 

FROM 

Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
DIED  July  9,  1749, 

at  THE 

Wechquadnach  Mission, 
Duchess  Co.,  JST.  Y. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  83 

[East  Side.] 

"how  beautiful  upon  the  mountains 
Are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth 
Good  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace  ; 
That  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good  ; 
«  That  publisheth  salvation." 

Isaiah  lii.  Y. 

[West  Side.] 

Erected  by  the 

]VIoRAViAN  Historical  Society, 

October  6,  1859. 

It  yet  remained  for  the  Committee  to  determine  with 
what  exercises  to  conduct  the  dedication  of  the  monu- 
ments. The  occasion  demanded  something  of  an  historical 
nature ;  and  the  archives  of  the  church  at  Bethlehem  and 
elsewhere  it  was  known  could  furnish  matter  bearing  on  the 
Mohican  and  AVampanoag  mission  that  had  never  been 
published.  Addresses  of  such  a  nature  were  accordingly 
determined  upon.  With  the  view  of  rendering  the  services 
solemn  and  impressive,  as  well  as  instructive,  those  portions 
of  the  Moravian  ritual  that  relate  to  death  and  the  resurrec- 
tion were  selected,  the  use  of  the  litanies  at  burials  being 
deemed  peculiarly  appropriate,  in  as  far  as  the  remains  of 
the  missionaries  had  been  committed  to  the  grave  without 
the  performance  of  those  cherished  rites.  For  a  like  reason, 
the  Easter  morning  litany,  which  is  prayed  yearly  on  Mora- 
vian burial-grounds,  and  the  choral  music  of  trombonists,  a 
characteristic  element  of  Moravian  obsequies,  were  added 
to  the  programme  of  religious  exercises. 

Finally,  it  was  resolved  to  hold  introductory  services  of  a 
more  general  nature  on  the  evening  before  the  first  day  of 
dedication.  An  opportunity  would  thus  be  afforded  of 
gratifying  the  wishes  of  members  of  the  Committee  and 
friends  in  Duchess  County,  who  were  desirous  of  witness- 


84:  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

ing  Moravian  worship,  and  hearing  addresses  on  subjects 
relating  to  the  secular  and  religious  history  and  constitution 
of  the  Brethren.  The  use  of  the  Bethel,  a  union  church  in 
the  valley  of  the  Shekomeko,  had  been  offered  for  these 
services. 

The  Rt.  Eev.  Peter  Wolle,  assisted  by  the  E-ev.  H^nry 
A.  Shultz,  pastor  of  the  Moravian  congregation  at  Bethle- 
hem, and  the  E-ev.  Sylvester  Wolle,  principal  of  the  Young 
Ladies'  Seminary  at  that  place,  were  requested  to  conduct 
the  ceremonies  of  the  dedication.  The  Rev.  Edwin  T.  Sen- 
seman,  pastor  of  the  Moravian  congregation  in  New  York 
City,  and  the  Rev.  Edmund  De  Schweinitz,  pastor  of  the 
Moravian  congregation  in  Philadelphia,  consented  to  de- 
liver historical  addresses,  and  the  Rev.  Sheldon  Davis  and 
the  Rev.  Frederick  Sill,  assistant  minister  of  St.  Thomas 
Church,  N.  Y.,  were  invited  to  make  introductory  remarks 
respectively  at  Shekomeko  and  Wechquadnach. 

While  thus  desirous  of  rendering  the  services  solemnly 
impressive  by  peculiar  ceremonies,  fears  were  entertained 
lest  occasion  might  be  given  for  exciting  idle  curiosity,  and 
the  dedication  lose  the  character  and  effect  it  was  the 
wish  of  all  it  should  alone  have  and  exercise.  To  prevent 
any  such  result,  and  to  have  the  public  rightly  understand 
the  nature  and  design  of  the  occasion,  the  members  of  com- 
mittee in  Duchess  County  deemed  it  advisable  to  publish 
the  programme  of  exercises  in  full  in  several  of  the  leading 
papers  of  the  county.  In  a  letter  to  the  president  of  the 
committee,  dated  September  19th,  Mr.  Davis  thus  ex- 
pressed the  views  of  himself  and  his  associates  in  refer- 
ence to  this  point :  "  It  has  been  with  Mr.  Lossing,  as  well 
as  with  myself,  a  matter  of  no  small  difficulty  to  determine 
exactly  what  was  the  best  course  to  pursue.  Some  pub- 
licity was  necessary  in  order  to  obtain  the  object  of  the 
dedication;    and    we   finally  concluded  that   a  fair  state- 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  85 

ment  of  what  was  to  be  done,  of  the  pccuHarities  of  the 
celebration,  and  the  names  and  position  of  the  Moravian 
speakers,  was  what  was  demanded  by  the  existing  state  of 
public  opinion  in  the  whole  region  of  country  round  about, 
and  rightly  due  the  same.  We  feel  that  the  influence  of 
idle  curiosity,  and  the  notion  of  looking  at  a  mere  spectacle, 
would  to  a  much  greater  extent  be  avoided  by  that  method 
than  by  any  other ;  and  that,  furthermore,  the  purpose  of  a 
sober  and  serious  religious  celebration  of  a  matter  of  great 
public  and  historical  interest  would  thus  be  best  promoted." 
In  the  mean  time,  the  work  on  the  monuments  had  ad- 
vanced, and  they  were  ready  for  the  inscriptions  early  in 
September.  In  a  letter  dated  the  19th  of  the  month,  Mr. 
Davis  reports  as  follows:  "The  Shekomeko  and  Wech- 
quadnach  monuments  are  completed,  and  are  now  standing 
in  the  marble-yard  at  Poughkeepsie,  where  they  are  visited 
daily  by  great  numbers  of  people.  There  has  been  no  mis- 
take or  difficulty  in  the  execution;  the  lettering  is  neat, 
clear,  and  conspicuous;  the  marble,  especially  that  of  the 
Shekomeko  monument,  is  very  fine ;  altogether,  they  fully 
equal  my  expectations,  and  I  have  no  doubt  will  be  entirely 
satisfactory  to  the  committee."  Again,  in  a  letter  dated 
September  22d,  Mr.  Davis  writes :  "  I  see  nothing  now  in 
the  way  of  the  complete  consummation  of  my  hopes  and 
efforts  in  this  undertaking ;  and  it  would  be  inexcusable  in 
me  not  to  express  my  gratitude  to  God  for  the  providential 
agency  I  have  been  favored  with  in  regard  to  the  same. 
The  foundation  of  the  Shekomeko  monument  was  laid  on 
the  15th  inst.  The  ground  was  excavated  six  feet  square 
and  three  deep,  to  allow  of  ample  masonry  being  laid  as  a 
firm  support  for  the  heavy  slab.  The  rough  stone- work  was 
continued  to  the  height  of  three  and  a  half  feet  above 
ground,  thus  forming  an  elevation  which  will  materially  aid 

in  rendering  the  landmark   a   conspicuous   object.      The 
7 


86  MOEAVIA^'S   IX   NEW   YORK 

mound  is  covered  with  sod.  The  labor  of  excavating  and 
drawing  stone  was  performed  gratuitously  by  Messrs.  Hunt- 
ing, Wilber,  and  Deuel.  In  digging  for  the  foundation,  a 
portion  of  a  skull  and  a  large  bone  were  exhumed,  also  a 
small  piece  of  the  coffin  in  a  state  of  almost  perfect  preser- 
vation. These  were  replaced,  and  the  fragment  of  the 
original  gravestone  inserted  in  the  upper  layer  of  masonry, 
so  as  to  be  readily  seen." 

The  Shekomeko  monument  was  set  up  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  Miller,  on  Wednesday,  the  28th  of  September. 

In  a  letter,  under  date  of  Sept.  27th,  Mr.  Davis  writes : 
"  The  Wechquadnach  monument  was  set  up  yesterday,  as 
the  stone-cutter  informs  me,  in  perfect  condition,  and 
without  accident.  Mr.  Lake  superintended  the  prepara- 
tory labor.  The  remains  of  Bruce  were  exhumed,  cared 
for  by  that  gentleman  with  religious  zeal  and  interest, 
gathered  into  a  box,  and  placed  beneath  the  monument. 
The  skeleton  was  found  entire,  in  a  sitting  posture,  accord- 
ing to  the  Indian  mode  of  burial,  and  the  bones  in  an 
almost  perfectly  sound  condition." 

Owing  to  the  heavy  rains  in  the  third  week  of  September, 
the  erection  of  the  monuments  was  deferred,  and  hence  Mr. 
Davis  was  prevented  from  being  present,  as  in  the  mean 
time  he  had  been  called  from  home. 

The  removal  of  Powell's  remains  to  the  site  of  the  Wech- 
quadnach stone,  a  measure  which  had  been  originally  enter- 
tained by  the  committee,  was  abandoned.  On  reconsidera- 
tion, it  appeared  unnecessary,  more  especially  as  Mr. 
Douglas  Clarke  and  his  son,  on  whose  land  the  grave  is, 
proposed  to  replace  the  old  tombstone,  which  is  perfect, 
and  to  exercise  a  care  for  its  preservation  and  for  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  spot.  There  was  furthermore  force  in  their 
argument,  that  the  church  and  mission-house  had  stood  on 
that  side  of  Indian  Pond,  and  hence  the  association  of  the 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  87 

spot  ought  by  no  means  to  be  forgotten  or  obliterated.  In 
view  of  this,  it  was  deemed  proper  to  hold  service  also  at 
this  locality,  and  from  there  proceed  across  the  lake  in 
boats,  pursuing  the  same  course  towards  the  southeastern 
shore  as  had  been  followed  by  the  Indians  when,  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  years  ago,  they  conveyed  the  remains  of  their 
teacher  over  "  Gnaden-See"  for  interment  in  their  national 
burial-ground. 

All  the  necessary  arrangements  having  been  completed, 
ten  of  the  number  that  purposed  participating  in  the  dedi- 
cation set  out  from  Bethlehem,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  od 
of  October,  for  New  York.  The  party  consisted  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Peter  Wolle,  the  Rev.  Sylvester  AVolle,  Misses  Mary 
E.  Shultz  and  Ellen  Wolle,  singers  in  the  Moravian  Church 
choir;  Messrs.  Jedediah  Weiss,  Ambrose  H.  Ranch,  and 
James  H.  AVoUe,  trombonists ;  Mr.  Granville  Henry  and 
Miss  Sophia  L.  Henry,  of  Boulton,  and  Mr.  W.  C.  Reichel. 
The  Rev.  Henry  A.  Shultz  was  prevented  by  official  duties 
from  leaving  home.  At  New  York,  the  delegation  was 
joined  by  the  Rev.  Edwin  T.  Senseman,  of  that  city,  the 
Rev.  Edmund  de  Schweinitz,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Jordan, 
Jr.,  and  Messrs.  Townsend  Ward,  John  A.  McAllister,  and 
George  F.  Bensell,  from  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bernard  E.  Lehman,  from  Bethlehem,  also  members  of  the 
Moravian  Church  choir  at  that  place. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  the  party  took  the  first  train  on" 
the  Harlem  road  going  north,  and  early  in  the  afternoon 
reached  the  Millerton  station  in  Duchess  Co.,  ninety-six 
miles  above  New  York.  Here  Messrs.  Hunting  and  Wilber 
were  in  waiting  with  carriages  to  convey  the  company  to 
Pine  Plains,  ten  miles  to  the  N.  W.  At  Mr.  Samuel 
Deuel's,  in  the  valley  of  the  Shekomeko,  they  were  cordially 
received.  Mr.  Davis  and  his  wife  had  just  come  from  Plea- 
sant Valley.    Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lossing  arrived  later  in  the  day ; 


88  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

also  the  Rev.  George  H.  Walsh  and  Mr.  Theophiliis  Gil- 
lender  from  Rhinebeck.  The  gathering  had  all  the  charms 
of  a  reunion,  and  of  a  meeting  of  parties  mutually  desirous 
of  forming  new  and  long-anticipated  friendships.  It  was 
apparent,  too,  that  the  sympathies  and  good-wishes  of  the 
community  were  enlisted  in  the  project  undertaken  in  its 
midst  by  strangers.  There  were  indications  of  the  warmest 
welcome,  and  of  a  prevailing  wish  to  render  the  sojourn  of 
the  Moravian  visitors  one  of  pleasant  recollections. 

Nothing  was  left  for  them  to  arrange.  Means  of  convey- 
ance from  place  to  place  had  been  provided,  and  entertain- 
ment at  the  several  localities  secured,  with  the  assurance 
of  hospitable  receptions.  From  the  "  Shekomeko  Literary 
Association,"  of  Pine  Plains,  the  following  expression  of 
interest  was  tendered  to  the  Committee  through  its  Presi- 
dent : — 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Shekomeko  Literary  Association, 
convened  Tuesday,  Sept.  24th,  1859,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  action  in  relation  to  the  dedication  of  the  Biittner 
monument,  present — 

THERON  WILBER,  WM.  TOMS, 

RICHARD  PECK,  H.  PARKER, 

H.  F.  SMITH,  C.  PITCHER, 

DE  SAULT  GUERNSEY,  GILES  H.  DUXBURY, 

It  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  the  association  in  a  body  attend  the 
dedicatory  ceremonies;  also. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  the  Moravian  Historical 
Society  our  high  appreciation  of  their  noble  efforts  to 
rescue  from  decay  and  oblivion  the  grave  and  memory  of 
gifted  and  noble  Biittner,  whose  zeal  and  uncompromising 
efforts  to  Christianize  "  the  wild  Mohicans,"  who  inhabited 
the  valley  of  the  Shekomeko,  met  with  such  wonderful 
success. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  89 

Resolved,  That  we  behold  in  this  monument,  in  honor  of 
the  memory  of  the  beloved  Biittncr  on  the  part  of  the 
members  of  the  INIoravian  Historical  Society,  an  earnest 
that  the  cause  in  which  he  sacrificed  his  life  still  excites 
an  interest,  not  only  among  their  honorable  body,  but  in 
the  whole  Christian  world;  and  we  consider  it  a  harbinger 
of  the  ultimate  realization  of  the  hopes  of  all  Christians, 
that  there  will  yet  be  a  remnant  of  this  Avonderful  race 
evangelized,  and  preserved  as  a  token  of  the  power  and 
goodness  of  the  Christian  religion  to  redeem  all  races  and 
every  people. 

Resoloed,  That  we  tender  to  the  members  of  the  above 
society,  and  their  friends  in  attendance  in  the  ceremonies 
of  the  dedication,  the  hospitalities  of  our  association;  and 
that  we  will,  as  far  as  we  are  able,  aid  in  the  successful 
accomplishment  of  their  praiseworthy  undertaking. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  above  resolutions  be  drawn 
up  and  signed  by  the  President  and  Secretary  of  our  Asso- 
ciation, and  duly  transmitted  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Mora- 
vian Historical  Society. 

EDWARD  HUNTING,  President 

Silas  G.  Deuel,  Secretary. 

After  dinner,  spread  with  all  the  plenty  that  the  treasures 
of  autumn  bring  only  to  the  farmer's  table,  several  of  the 
party  repaired  to  the  monument  that  marks  the  spot  where 
BUttner  lies.  The  pathway  shows  the  valley  of  the  Sheko- 
meko.  "  Leaving  the  high-road,"  writes  one  of  the  number, 
"  we  struck  across  the  fertile  flat  that  stretches  out  before 
you  for  a  mile,  an  unbroken  expanse  of  luxuriant  meadow. 
On  every  side  there  were  indications  of  agricultural  thrift 
and  abundance.  The  husbandman  here  has  everything 
to  gladden  his  heart,  water  to  irrigate  his  lands,  ample 
pasture  for  his  cattle,  and  a  soil  that  rewards  the  labor  of 


90  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

his  hands  a  hundred  fold.  Passing  over  this  picture  of 
rural  tranquillity  in  a  westerly  direction,  a  gradual  ascent 
brought  us  to  the  pasture,  on  whose  summit  the  white 
marble  soon  rose  in  bold  relief  against  the  evening  sky. 
The  site  is  preeminently  commanding.  It  overlooks  the 
flats  of  the  Shekomeko  and  the  valley  of  the  Stissing.  It 
was  near  the  close  of  a  lovely  October  day,  as  we  viewed 
these  hallowed  grounds,  and  the  quiet  of  the  landscape  that 
met  our  eyes  was  in  consonance  with  the  feelings  awakened 
by  the  associations  of  the  interesting  locality.  The  memo- 
ries of  the  silent  past  were  reflected  by  mountain  and  forest 
and  sky,  as  they  lay  in  softened  outline  in  the  magic  haze 
of  the  autumnal  horizon.  Nature  appeared  to  us  more  than 
ordinarily  beautiful,  and  this,  too,  at  a  season  when  she 
decks  herself  in  her  most  brilliant  garments.  The  eastern 
slope  of  Stissing  was  one  mosaic  of  crimson,  and  emerald 
and  gold,  and  at  its  foot,  towards  the  north,  like  a  sapphire 
of  the  first  water,  set  in  the  midst  of  this  gorgeous  splendor, 
lay  the  placid  expanse  of  Halcyon  Lake.  The  lowlands  to 
the  south  were  already  checkered  with  lengthened  shadows, 
and,  when  we  left,  the  site  of  the  old  Indian  village,  in  the 
hollow  below,  lay  buried  in  the  dusk  of  twilight,  as  are  the 
records  of  what  here  transpired  in  the  every-day  life  of 
Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  John,  and  the  other  worthies  who 
clustered  around  the  bark-covered  church  of  the  Moravian 
Missionary." 

The  committee  repaired  to  the  Bethel,  where  the  services 
introductory  to  those  of  the  dedication  had  been  appointed. 
On  approaching  the  little  white  church  a  beautiful  sight  was 
presented.  The  roadside  was  lined  with  vehicles,  and  the 
green  before  the  building  thronged  with  human  forms. 
They  stood  in  groups  upon  the  lawn,  in  the  shadow  of  the 
trees,  and  in  the  softened  moonlight  that  lit  up  the  mild 
and  balmy  evening.     The  church  was  also  full.     It  was 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


91 


evidently  more  than  usually  illuminated,  and  decked  with 
flowers  as  if  for  a  festive  occasion. 

The  Bishop  and  the  Rev.  Edmund  de  Schweinitz  ascended 
the  pulpit,  before  which  seats  had  been  provided  for  the 
Moravian  delegation.  Tlie  worship  was  opened  by  the 
following  chorus,  performed  by  the  trombonists  who  stood 
in  the  open  doorway: — 

Tune  230. 


m 


w=^ 


p=t 


^ 


i 


^ 


■mE^ 


*=?: 


It  is  the  accompaniment  to  the  following  stanza  in  the 
collection  of  Moravian  hymns: — 


92  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

"From  tliy  holy  habitation, 
0  God  of  grace  and  consolation, 
Behold  us  met  before  thy  throne; 
Saviour,  to  believers  precious, 
"With  sanctified  delights  refresh  us. 
And  us,  as  thine,  in  mercy  own  ; 
We  humbly  cry  to  thee, 
Send  now  prosperity; 
Let  thy  beauty 
On  us  appear — establish  here 
Our  work,  the  work  of  praise  and  prayer." 

The  Bisliop  now  prayed  the  Moravian  Church  Litany — 

Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Christ,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Christ,  hear  us. 

Lord,  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering-,  and  abundant  in  good- 
ness and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression 
and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty ;  (Exod.  xxxiv.  6,  7.) 

Incline  thine  ear  and  hear ;  for  we  do  not  present  our  supplications  before 
thee  for  our  righteousness,  but  for  thy  great  mercies.  (Daniel  ix.  18.) 

Lord  God,  our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven, 

Hallowed  be  tliy  name  ;  thy  kingdom  come  ;  thy  ivill  he  done  in  earth,  as  it 
is  in  heaven  ;  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  ;  and  forgive  us  our  trespasses, 
as  ive  forgive  them  that  tres2)ass  against  us  ;  and  lead  tos  not  into  temptation, 
but  deliver  us  from  evil;  for  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory, 
forever  and  ever :  Amen. 

Lord  God,  Son,  thou  Saviour  of  the  world, 

Be  gracious  unto  us. 
Lord  God,  Holy  Ghost, 

Abide  with  us  forever. 

T.  22.  Most  holy  blessed  Trinity, 

We  praise  thee  to  eternity      :ll:    :ll: 

T.  132 ;  p.  2.  Thou  Lamb  once  slain,  our  God  and  Lord, 
To  needy  prayers  thine  ear  afford, 
And  on  us  all  have  mercy. 

From  coldness  to  thy  merits  and  death. 

From  error  and  misunderstanding, 

From  the  loss  of  our  glory  in  thee, 

From  the  unhappy  desire  of  becoming  great, 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  93 

From  self-complacency, 

From  untimely  projects, 

From  needless  perplexity. 

From  the  murdering  spirit  and  devices  of  Satan, 

From  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  this  world. 

From  hypocrisy  and  fanaticism, 

From  the  deceitfulness  of  sin. 

From  all  sin, 

Preserve  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

By  all  the  merits  of  thy  life, 

By  thy  human  birth  and  circumcision. 

By  thy  obedience,  diligence,  and  faithfulness, 

By  thy  humility,  meekness,  and  patience. 

By  thy  extreme  poverty, 

By  thy  holy  baptism, 

By  thy  watching,  fasting,  and  temptations, 

By  thy  griefs  and  sorrows, 

By  thy  prayers  and  tears, 

By  thy  having  been  despised  and  rejected, 

Bless  and  covifort  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

By  thine  agony  and  bloody  sweat. 
By  thy  bonds  and  scourgings, 
By  thy  ci'own  of  thorns, 
By  thy  cross  and  passion, 
By  thy  sacred  wounds  and  precious  blood. 
By  thy  dying  words. 
By  thy  atoning  death, 
By  thy  rest  in  the  grave, 
By  thy  glorious  resurrection  and  ascension, 
By  thy  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
By  thy  sending  the  Holy  Ghost, 
By  thy  prevailing  intercession, 
By  the  holy  sacraments. 

By  thy  divine  presence,  (Matt,  xxviii.  20.) 

By  thy  coming  again  to  thy  Church  on  earth,  or  our  being  called  home  to  thee. 
Bless  and  comfort  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

T.  96.  We  humbly  pray  with  one  accord, 
Remember  us,  most  gracious  Lord  ; 
Think  on  thy  sufferings,  wounds,  and  cross, 
And  how  by  death  thou  savedst  us  ; 
For  this  is  all  our  hope  and  plea, 
In  time  and  in  eternity. 

We  poor  sinners  pray  ; 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 


94:  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW  YORK 

Rule  aud  lead  thy  holy  Christian  Church  ; 

Increase  the  knowledge  of  the  mystery  of  Christ,  and  diminish  misapprehensions  ; 
Make  the  word  of  the  cross  universal  among  those  who  are  called  by  thy  name ; 
Unite  all  the  children  of  God  in  one  spirit ;  (John  xi.  52.) 

Abide  their  only  Shepherd,  High-priest,  and  Saviour; 

Send  faithful  laborers  into  thy  harvest;  (Matt.  ix.  38.) 

Give  spirit  and  power  to  preach  thy  word ; 

Preserve  unto  us  the  word  of  reconciliation  till  the  end  of  days ; 
And  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  daily  glorify  the  merits  of  thy  life,  sufferings,  and 
death  ; 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

Prevent  or  destroy  all  designs  and  schemes  of  Satan,  and  defend  us  against  his 
accusation;  (Rev.  xii.  10.) 

For  the  sake  of  that  peace  which  we  have  with  thee,  may  we,  as  much  as  lieth 
in  us,  live  peaceably  with  all  men  ;  (Rom.  xii.  18.) 

Grant  us  to  bless  them  that  curse  us,  and  to  do  good  to  them  that  hate  us  ; 

(Matt.  V.  44.) 

Have  mercy  upon  our  slanderers  and  persecutors,  and  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge  ;  (Acts  vii.  60.) 

Hinder  all  schisms  and  offences ; 

Put  far  from  thy  people  all  deceivers  and  seducers ; 

Bring  back  those  who  have  erred,  or  have  been  seduced ; 

Grant  love  and  unity  to  all  our  congregations  ; 
Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

Thou  Light  and  Desire  of  all  nations  ;  (Matt.  iv.  16  ;  Hag.  ii.  7.) 

Watch  over  thy  messengers  both  by  land  and  sea ; 

Prosper  the  endeavors  of  all  thy  servants,  to  spread  thy  gospel  among  heathen 
nations ; 

Accompany  the  word  of  their  testimony  concerning  thy  atonement,  with  demon- 
stration of  the  Spirit  and  of  power;  (1  Cor.  ii.  4.) 

Bless  our,  and  all  other  Christian  congregations  gathered  from  among  the 
heathen ; 

Keep  them  as  the  apple  of  thine  eye ;  (Deut.  xxxii.  10.) 

Have  mercy  on  thy  ancient  covenant-people,  the  Jews ;  deliver  them  from  their 
blindness  ;  (Rom.  xi.  25,  26.) 

And  bring  all  nations  to  the  saving  knowledge  of  thee  ; 

Hear  iis,  graciotis  Lord  and  God. 

0  praise  the  Lord,  all  ye  heathen  : 
Praise  him,  all  ye  nations. 

Give  to  thy  people  open  doors  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  set  them  to  thy  praise 
on  earth  ;  (Rev.  iii.  8.) 

Grant  to  all  bishops  and  ministers  of  the  church  soundness  of  doctrine  and  holi- 
ness of  life,  and  preserve  them  therein ;  (Tit.  i.  7,  ii.  1.) 


AND   CONXECTICUT.  95 

Help  all  ciders  to  rule  well,  especially  those  who  labor  ia  the  word. and  doc- 
trine ;  that  they  may  feed  thy  church,  which  thou  hast  purchased  with  thine 
own  blood ;  (1  Tim.  v.  17  ;  Acts  xx.  28.) 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

"Watch  graciously  over  all  governments,  and  hear  our  intercessions  for  them; 

(1  Tim.  ii.  1,  2.) 

Grant  and  preserve  unto  them  thoughts  of  peace  and  concord; 

We  beseech  thee  especially,  to  pour  down  thy  blessings  in  a  jjentiful  manner 
upon  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Governors  of  the  individual 
States  of  the  Union ;  upon  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  the  respective  State 
Legislatures,  whenever  assembled.  Direct  and  prosper  all  their  councils  and 
undertakings  to  the  promotion  of  thy  glory,  the  propagation  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  safety  and  welfare  of  this  country. 

Guide  and  protect  the  magistrates  of  the  land  wherein  we  dwell,  and  all  that  are 
put  in  authority ;  and  grant  us  to  lead  under  them  a  quiet  and  peacealile  life, 
in  all  godliness  and  honesty;  (1  Tim.  ii.  2.) 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

Teach  us  to  submit  ourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  thy  sake ;  and  to 
seek  the  peace  of  the  places  where  we  dwell ;       (1  Pet.  ii.  13 ;  Jer.  xxis.  7.) 

Grant  them  blessing  and  prosperity ; 

Prevent  war,  and  the  effusion  of  human  1)lood ; 

Preserve  the  land  from  distress  by  fire  and  water,  hail  and  tempest,  plague,  pes- 
tilence, and  famine ; 

Let  the  earth  be  like  a  field  which  the  Lord  blesseth ; 

Give  peace  and  salvation,  0  God,  to  this  land,  and  to  all  that  dwell  therein ; 
Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

T.  Te  Doum,  p.  2.     Promote,  we  pray,  thy  servants'  good, 

Redeem'd  with  thy  most  precious  blood  ; 
Among  thy  saints  make  us  ascend 
To  glory  that  shall  never  end  ; 
0  Lord,  have  mercy  on  us  all. 
Have  mercy  on  us  when  we  call ; 
Lord,  we  have  put  our  trust  in  thee, 
Confounded  let  us  never  be  :  Amen. 

Supply.  0  Lord,  we  pray  ihce,  all  the  wants  of  thy  Church ; 

Let  all  things  be  conducted  among  us  in  such  a  manner,  that  we  provide  things 

honest,  not  only  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  but  also  in  the  sight  of  men ; 

(2  Cor.  viii.  21.) 
Bless  the  sweat  of  the  brow,  and  faithfulness  in  business ; 

Let  none  entangle  himself  with  the  affairs  of  this  life  ;  (2  Tim.  ii.  4.) 

But  may  all  our  labor  of  body  and  mind  be  hallowed  unto  thee  ; 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

0  thou  Preserver  of  men,  (Job  vii.  20.) 

Send  help  to  all  that  are  in  distress  or  danger ; 


96  MORAVIANS   IN  NEW  YORK 

Strengthen  and  uphold  those  who  suffer  bonds  and  persecution  for  the  sake  of 

the  gospel;  (Heb.  xiii.  3.) 

Defend,  and  provide  for  fatherless  children,  and  widows,  and  all  who  are  desolate 

and  oppressed ;  (Ps.  Ixviii.  5.) 

Be  the  support  of  the  aged ;  (Is.  xlvi.  4.) 

Make  the  bed  of  the  sick,  and,  in  the  midst  of  suffering,  let  them  feel  that  thou 

lovest  them  ;  (Ps.  xli.  3.) 

And  when  thou  takest  away  men's  breath,  that  they  die,  then  remember  that 

thou  hast  died,  not  for  our  sins  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world ; 

(1  John  ii.  2  ;  Rom.  v.  18.) 
Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

O  Lord,  thou  who  art  over  all,  God  blessed  for  ever,  (Rom.  ix.  5.) 

Be  the  Saviour  of  all  men ;  (1  Tim.  iv.  10.) 

Yea,  have  mercy  on  thy  whole  creation;  (Rom.  viii.  19,  22.) 

For  thou  camest,  by  thyself  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  God,  whether  things 
in  earth,  or  things  in  heaven  ;  (Col.  i.  20  ;  Eph.  ii.  16.) 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

Thou  Saviour  of  thy  body,  the  church ;  (Eph.  v.  23.) 

Bless,  sanctify,  and  preserve  every  member,  through  the  truth  ;  (John  xvii.  17.) 
Grant  that  each,  in  every  age  and  station,  may  enjoy  the  powerful  and  sanctify- 
ing merits  of  thy  holy  humanity ;  and  make  us  chaste  before  thee  in  soul  and 
body; 
Let  our  children  be  brought  up  in  thy  nurture  and  admonition  ;  (Eph.  vi.  4.) 
Pour  out  thy  Holy  Spirit  on  all  thy  servants  and  handmaids  ;  (Acts  ii.  18.) 

Purify  our  souls,  in  obeying  the  truth,  through  the  Spirit,  unto  unfeigned  love 
of  the  brethren ;  (1  Pet.  i.  22.) 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

Keep  us  in  everlasting  fellowship  with  the  church  triumphant,  and  let  us  rest 
together  in  thy  presence  from  our  labors  ; 
Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

0  Christ,  Almighty  God, 

Have  mercy  upon  us. 

O  thou  Lamb  of  God,  which  takest  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  (John  i.  29.) 

Own  us  to  be  thine. 

0  thou  Lamb  of  God,  which  takest  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
Be  joyful  over  us. 

0  thou  Lamb  of  God,  which  takest  away  the  sin  of  the  world, 
Leave  thy  peace  with  us. 

0  Christ,  hear  us. 

Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Christ,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


97 


The  choir  next  performed  the  following  anthem,  accom- 
panied by  the  melodeon : — 


OKGAN  OR   MELODEON. 


Andante 
^  Maestoso.   Solo. 


-^^— I- 


^^^M 


sw-^-i-g: 


98 


MORAVIANS  IN   NEW   YORK 


^Tempo.  I. 


W^ 


SJ3^S 


^ 


Aifettuoso. 


=1^ 


^ 


1^±^ 


£ 


tr — r — "~^ 

And      to    the        spir    -    its    of       just    men  made       per  -  feet;  And      to 


--^ 


f=^ 


-^ — I — "^ — I — ^ 


t^ 


-^^z^. 


Je  -  sus,  the      Me  -  di    -    a  -  tor,  the  Me  -  di    -    a   -   tor  of    the  New 

1       ^""^ 


i^^g 


-^    J 


£E£ 


-*Ti* («-!— 


ti^^^-^^^^ 


-^-^ 


^1^=^ 


tr 


J-L^  ^- 


^ 


^E?^ 


Gov  -  6  -  nant,  and  to     the  blood  of  sprinkling;     to  Je    -    sus!  to 

i 


^=§ 


1 


^- 


^ 


=l*i>-s=^ 


A 


Coro  Tutti. 


mEX- 


1^^ 


S=a^ 


:^ 


We    are  come        un   -  to    Mount  Zi  -  on, 


Je 


virt-^ 


;fc=^: 


sus! 
/ 


^ 


I   r^    I 


g| 


r  1  '  p 


^ 


and  to  the        cit  -  y  of    the  liv  -  ing    God,        the        heav-en-ly      Je   - 


t    Tr  r 


^^ 


^S 


'^-^ 


f 


±=^ 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


99 


ii 


and    to    an     In 


^ 


^ 


V 


ru  -  sa  -  lom !  And    to    an    in    -    nu  -  mo);  -  a   -  bio 


F3?^ 


■-:^^=lt 


J^'-^^"^ 


^ 


^ 


:^ 


com  -  pa  -  ny 


m 


nu  -  mer  -  a  -  ble       com  -  pa  -  ny     of       au  -  gels  ; 

h   ^   h   N.     I     ^         ^     ' 


J)  1*- 


To  the,  ic. 


^ftltt 


of     an  -  gels;  And     to     an     in  -   nu  -  mer  -  a  -  ble       com  -  pa  -  ny,  the 


W^ 


^^ 


--^ 


^t_^>> 


^3 


i 


?= 


fi 


gen  -  er    -    al    as   -     sem  -  bly  and    church      of     the       first  -  born,    which  are 


^^- 


--^ 


m 


SEEfE 


^53^ 


Adagio. 


^Adagio. 


e 


i^hmL 


^=g=D 


S 


writ  -  ten    in    heav"n!     And  to    God!      the      Judge   of    all! 

!     I      ,  II, 


^  «f      I* — ™      y 


ff=r 


-i5^ 


t»   1   ^' 


ts=t| 


e 


Swell. 


Tempo.  I. 


And       to    the       spir  •  its    of       just      mon  made     per  -  feet: 
mf 


^ 


--^ 


^(^=^ 


^- 


f" 


100 


MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 


and       to  Je  -  sus,    the     Me  -  di  -  a  -  tor, 


the  Me  -  di    -    a  -  tor 


^e^-^ 


g^4l|^J-L:LUiJ^ 


T=% 


UU=^:^.^^^ 


i^ 


of    the  New       Cot  -  e  -  nant ; 


the     Me  -  di     -     a    -  tor 


-q^^ 


^^^^^^ 


Si 


g 


w^ 


^  # 


i— UJ- 


i 


ij 


JM^ 


i9-^ •^ 


Tenor  Solo. 


•^ — ^ 


lSf=Z%L 


:s=^=e 


t^ 


5^ 


^ 


of      the   New    Cov  -  e  -  nant,  to        Je    -   sus,        and      to      the    blood,        and 


t^ 


4=^ 


=1^ 


d: 


"8=8= 


ii^ 


■J^ 


^r:i?: 


N^ 


Q" 


:!^^ 


to     the     blood         of   sprinkling ! 


to       the  blood  of  sprink 


^ 


^ 


^^^ 


3E=^ 


:^=^ 


22 


'•     .:/ 


i^iS3 


Adagio. 

^         I 


-P— «!— 


«J 


ling :  to 


Je     •     sus !  to  Je     -     sus  1 


m^ 


:^=^t=?2 


e: 


f 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


101 


The  followin<'  hymn  having  been  sung  by  the  congrega- 


tion : — 


1.  Je    -    bus'       life       of 
Prove    in       life      our 


grief     and  sor 

con    -    JO    -    la 


rows,         All        his      sufforings, 
tiou,         And      in      death     our 


PS^ 


^     J 


id^ 


I      y 


!=^^ 


^ 


r  rr 


death      and 
joy  re 

6  4* 


^  ^- 


pain, 
main. 


jah, 


le 


jail. 


^-d — i- 

^^  •(•           1 

-f 1 r 

—fB— 

1 

1        1 
0    ^      ^ 

^_U_| 

1           -^ 

1 

— ^ 
1 

— ^ 

A   I     r- 

-^ — t-^^- 

-g- ,^ 

Christ's    our 

— U- m "LJ^^— 

life,     hence         death 

is               gaiu. 

^?^^4 — T— 

-4 (?_      - 

-^* \ 

<E5 — ^- 1 — 

J — L_|=^= 

i                      -''       \ 

2.  On  his  precious  death  and  merit 

All  our  hopes  are  safely  built ; 

We  rejoice  in  bis  salvation, 

Freed  from  sin's  condemning  guilt ; 

Sing  his  triumphs  :||: 
'  Twas  for  us  his  blood  was  spilt. 

3.  Jesus  yieldeth  up  his  spirit, 

Lo,  he  bows  his  head  and  dies  ; 
From  his  death  we  life  inherit, 
Hence  our  happiness  takes  rise  ; 

We  now  glory  :||: 
Only  in  his  sacrifice. 

4.  Jesus'  body  once  interred, 

Sanctifies  his  brethren's  rest ; 

And  the  place  which  keeps  their  bodies, 

Since  earth  lodg'd  that  heavenly  guest, 

Now  is  hallowed  :||: 
We  lie  down  in  hope  most  blest. 


102  MORAVIANS   IX  NEW  YORK 

The  Bishop  arose  and  addressed  his  auditory  in  these 
words : — 

BISHOP  WOLLE'S  ADDRESS. 

Beloved  Brethren  and  Friends: — 

In  the  good  providence  of  God,  this  congregation  has 
met  in  His  courts  on  an  extraordinary  and  exceedingly 
interesting  occasion.  The  majority  of  my  hearers  consists 
of  the  worthy  inhabitants  of  this  beautiful  valley;  with  these 
a  little  band  of  Moravians  and  friends  of  theirs,  chiefly  from 
Pennsylvania,  have  united  in  the  religious  services  of  the 
evening,  introductory  to  the  solemnities  in  which,  by  Divine 
permission,  we  all  hope  to  engage  on  the  morrow  and  the 
following  day.  The  community  has  already  been  apprised 
of  the  object  of  our  visit.  We  design  to  honor  the  me- 
mory of  some  of  our  brethren,  who,  more  than  a  century 
ago,  fi.nished  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  after  having  been 
permitted  to  see  very  encouraging  fruits  of  their  labors  in 
the  sacred  calling  of  teaching  the  way  of  salvation  opened 
for  sinners  by  the  crucified  Redeemer,  to  the  aborigines  of 
this  region.  Services  of  such  a  nature  are  at  all  times 
solemn.  As  often  as  we  stand  at  the  tombs  of  departed 
friends — at  the  resting-places  of  such  as  have  entered  into 
the  joy  of  their  Lord — how  forcibly  are  we  reminded  of  our 
own  swiftly  approaching  departure  from  time  to  eternity,  and 
led  to  examine  the  ground  of  our  hope  of  happiness  beyond 
the  grave.  If,  therefore,  we  engage  in  the  holy  services 
before  us  with  due  reverence,  and  with  hearts  willing  to 
receive  Divine  impressions,  we  shall  ever  gratefully  remem- 
ber this  occasion  as  one  of  interest  and  of  abiding  blessings. 

The  attention  of  this  community  is  at  the  present  time 
naturally  directed  to  that  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
which  bears  the  name  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  or  the  Mo- 
ravian Church  of  the  United  Brethren.     When  our  mis- 


AND   CONXECTICUT.  103 

sionaries  labored  here,  our  Church  may  liave  been  more 
generally  known  than  after  the  abandonment  of  the  field ; 
but  yet  it  was  reg-arded  wdth  prejudice,  and  its  character 
but  imperfectly  understood.  Since  then,  more  enlarged  and 
more  correct  views  prevail,  and  it  is  with  humble  gratitude 
before  the  Lord  our  Saviour,  that  we  acknowledge  the 
favor  wdiich  our  Zion  universally  enjoys;  at  the  same  time 
that  we  are  compelled  to  confess  that  the  estimate  in  which 
we  arc  held  far  exceeds  our  deserts. 

I  do  not  design  to  enter  on  the  history  of  our  former 
mission  labors  in  this  neighborhood — another  brother  Avill 
treat  this  subject  to-morrow ;  neither  do  I  propose  to  give 
a  sketch  of  the  history  of  our  Church  in  general — the 
brother  who  is  to  succeed  me  having  been  requested  to  do 
this. 

My  object  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  present  to  your  consi- 
deration the  Church  of  the  Brethren,  as  a  body  of  Chris- 
tians animated  with  the  holy  desire  to  fulfil  the  Saviour's 
command  to  his  disciples,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  AVe  humbly  acknow^- 
ledge  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  exalted  Head  of  His  Church, 
has  chosen  us  to  be  a  '■'•icituess  conrjregation^^''  that  He  has 
undeservedly  ordained  us  to  carry  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  gentile  world,  lying  in  darkness,  misery,  and  guilt. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-two  years  ago,  soon  after  a  rem- 
nant of  the  ancient  Church  of  the  Brethren  had  been  trans- 
planted to  Saxony,  the  church  of  Herrnhut  w^as  baptized 
with  a  Pentecostal  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  A 
blessed  result  of  this  reason  of  refreshing  from  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lord,  ^vas  the  fervent  wdsh  wdiich  filled  the 
hearts  of  the  Brethren  to  be  "  witnesses"  unto  Him  to  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  (Acts  i.  8.)  Believing  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  loving  Him  in 
sincerity,  and  longing  to  glorify  His  name,  our  flithcrs  did 


lO-i  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

not  remain  idle  spectators  of  the  miserable  state  in  which 
the  heathen  lived,  but  were  impelled,  although  few  in  num- 
ber and  poor  in  means,  to  go  to  them  in  their  dark  regions, 
as  heralds  of  the  Cross.  In  the  year  1732,  the  first  Mora- 
vian missionaries  proceeded  to  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas ; 
and  in  the  following  year  the  inhospitable  coast  of  Green- 
land saw  the  feet  of  them  that  brought  good  tidings — that 
published  peace.  Nor  were  the  aborigines  of  this  country 
forg-otten,  and  soon  the  wilds  of  North  America  became  a 
field  of  devoted  missionary  labor.  It  may  prove  interesting 
to  my  respected  hearers  to  be  informed  of  the  present 
extent  of  the  operations  among  the  heathen,  carried  on  by 
our  Church.  Our  missionary  field  is  divided  into  fourteen 
provinces,  as  follows :  Greenland,  Labrador,  North  America, 
Central  America,  Danish  AVest  Indies,  Jamaica,  Antigua, 
St.  Kitts,  Barbadoes,  Tobago,  Surinam  in  South  America, 
South  Africa,  Thibet  in  Asia,  and  Australia.  In  these  pro- 
vinces we  have  75  regular  stations,  312  missionaries,^  male 
and  female,  and  nearly  74,000  converts. 

Between  two  and  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  are  annu- 
ally required  to  meet  the  expenses  of  our  mission  work.  This 
amount  is  raised  chiefly  by  missionary  associations,  of  which 
the  following  three  stand  foremost:  "The  Brethren's  Society 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Heathen," 
established  in  1711  in  the  British  Province,  as  it  was  called, 
composed  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland;  "The  London 
Association  in  aid  of  the  Missions  of  the  United  Brethren," 
founded  in  1817;  and  "The  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  among  the  Heathen,"  organized  at  Bethlehem,  Pa., 
and  incorporated  in  1788.  Other  sources  of  revenue  are 
the  contributions  of  our  churches,  legacies,  donations  from 

1  The  native  assistants  are  not  included  in  this  number,  but  only  those 
who  have  gone  out  from  the  home  Church. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  105 

friends  of  the  cause,  both  in  America  and  Europe,  and, 
above  all,  the  means  supplied  by  some  of  the  missions  them- 
selves. We  bless  the  Lord  that  laborers  in  the  missionary 
field  have  never  been  wanting,  .and  that  the  funds  necessary 
for  carrying  on  the  work  have  always  been  provided. 

In  order  to  improve  the  present  occasion  for  communi- 
cating correct  information  relative  to  our  Church,  I  will  now 
proceed  to  exhibit,  in  a  few  brief  propositions,  the  doc- 
trines which  it  holds.  In  all  fundamental  and  essential 
points,  we  agree  with  every  other  evangelical  division  of  the 
Christian  church.  We  have  no  Confession  of  Faith  as  such.^ 
The  Bible  is  the  text-book  to  which  we  refer  for  our  creed ; 
and  our  catechisms  for  the  instruction  of  youth,  give  a  clear 
and  simple  exposition  of  the  doctrinal  views  which  we 
entertain. 

1.  We  believe  in  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  prize  the  sacred  volume  as  the  precious  source  of 
all  truth,  whence  we  obtain  knowledge  concerning  the  crea- 
tion, the  Author  of  our  being,  the  state  of  man,  his  redemp- 
tion through  the  Mediator,  our  path  of  duty,  our  blessed 
privileges,  and  our  everlasting  destiny. 

2.  We  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  a  Hoh/  Trinity,  three 
persons  in  one  Godhead — in  God  the  Father,  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  Him,  of  all  who  embrace 
the  salvation  which  infinite  wisdom  and  love  devised  from 
eternity,  and  which  was  wrought  out  in  the  fulness  of  time 
by  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son — in  God  the  Son,  who  con- 
descended to  assume  human  nature,  veiling  His  eternal  glory 
for  a  season  to  sufier  an  expiatory  death,  and  to  carry  out 
the  gracious  purposes  of  His  Father — and  in  God  the  Holy 

*  The  Moravian  clmrch  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  where  a  Confession 
is  required  by  government,  freely  declares  its  adherence  to  the  twenty-one 
articles  of  the  Augsburg  Confession.  The  Easter  Morning  Litany,  which 
is  used  in  all  Moravian  churches,  contains  a  summary  of  doctrine. 


106  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

Ghost,  through  whom  sinful  man  is  convicted,  brought  into 
godly  sorrow,  enlightened,  and,  by  faith  in  Christ,  made  to 
rejoice  in  God  his  reconciled  Father,  in  Jesus  his  lle- 
deemer,  and  in  the  Spirit  his  Sanctifier. 

3.  AVe  believe  in  the  universal  and  total  deprnvitj/  of 
man.  "By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death 
by  sin ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have 
sinned."  (Romans  v.  12.)  "There  is  none  that  doeth 
good,  no,  not  one."      (Romans  iii.  12.) 

4.  We  believe  in  the  total  inabiliti/  of  man,  by  his  own 
wisdom  and  strength,  to  secure  the  fiivor  of  his  offended 
Maker,  and  to  deliver  his  soul  from  justly  deserved  eternal 
condemnation. 

5.  We  believe  that  there  is  none  other  name  under 
heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved,  but 
the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Lamb  of  God  which 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 

6.  We  believe  that  heartfelt  repentance  of  sin,  and  true 
faith  in  our  Crucified  Surety,  are  the  Gospel  terms  on  which 
alone  a  happy  deliverance  from  condemnation,  and  a  glori- 
ous admission  to  heavenly  felicity  can  be  obtained. 

7.  We  believe  that  faith  in  Christ  must  be  a  llvrng  prin- 
ciple, working  by  love — love  to  God  and  man ;  and  must 
be  manifested  by  a  sober,  righteous,  and  godly  life  in  this 
present  world. 

8.  We  believe  that  our  brief  life  on  earth  is  the  time  to 
prepare  for  the  eternal  world  which  is  to  come,  and  that  on 
the  relations  which  we  shall  sustain  to  God  our  Saviour, 
who  is  the  appointed  Judge  of  the  world,  when  we  shall 
pass  from  this  present  state  of  existence,  will  depend  either 
our  everlasting  condemnation,  or  our  admission  to  the  inef- 
fable bliss  and  glory  of  the  mansions  in  heaven. 

Among  all  the  blessed  truths  of  our  holy  religion,  the 
doctrine  of  salvation  through  the  crucified  Redeemer — or 


AND  CONNECTICUT.  107 

of  a  perfect  atonement  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  cleanseth  from  all  sin — has  always  been  regarded, 
both  in  the  ancient  church  of  the  Brethren  previous  to  the 
lleformation,  and  in  the  renewed  church,  to  the  present 
day,  as  of  paramount  importance.  AVe  glory  in  the  cross 
of  Christ.  There  was  a  time  when  this  cardinal  doctrine 
was  nowhere  proclaimed  with  such  simplicity,  earnestness, 
and  sa\ing  efficacy  as  in  the  Church  of  the  Brethren.  But 
we  rejoice  to  know  that,  in  the  present  day.  Gospel  preach- 
ers abound,  in  all  the  divisions  of  the  church,  who  are  deter- 
mined, like  Paul,  not  to  know  anything  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified.  And  while  we  bless  God  that,  through 
His  grace,  our  pulpits  have  never  been  desecrated  by  teach- 
ings contrary  to  sound  doctrine,  and  to  that  truth  which  is 
nearest  and  dearest  to  our  hearts;  we  are,  at  the  same  time, 
constrained  to  mourn  that  so  many  among  us  are  still  with- 
out the  experimental  knowledge  of  Christ,  which  consti- 
tutes a  foretaste  of  heaven,  inasmuch  as  poor,  unworthy 
sinners  are  permitted  to  enjoy  daily  communion  with  our 
exalted,  yet  ever  present  Friend,  that  sticketh  closer  than  a 
brother. 

Let  me  here  remark  that  our  Church  never  was,  nor  at 
this  time  is,  sectarian  in  its  views,  or  in  its  relations  to 
other  Christians.  We  are  ready  to  extend  a  fraternal  hand 
to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  and  walk 
in  the  way  of  his  commandments.  Hence  we  admit  to  our 
pulpits  approved  and  regularly  ordained  ministers  of  every 
evangelical  church,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  accept  of  invita- 
tions to  preach  in  churches  of  any  evangelical  name. 

The  universal  Church  of  Christ  on  earth  may  be  regarded 
as  composed  of  a  number  of  families,  all  occupying  the  same 
edifice,  which  is  suitably  prepared  for  them,  and  provided 
with  every  desirable  comfort.  These  families  are  closely 
united  by  a  sacred  bond  of  love,  are  intent  on  glorifying 


108  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

God  their  Saviour,  and  seek  to  prepare  for  tlieir  common 
abode  in  tlie  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.  But  in  their  external  arrangements,  perfect  uni- 
formity cannot  be  expected.  The  occupants  of  each  part 
of  the  edifice  will  be  distinguished  from  the  rest  by  tastes, 
customs,  and  furniture  of  their  own.  So  it  is  in  the  case  of 
the  Brethren's  Church;  it  has  its  peculiar  government,  wor- 
ship, ritual,  and  discipline.  Time  does  not  permit  me  to 
enter  on  an  exposition  of  these.  I  will  only  remark,  that 
as  the  same  Gospel  is  preached  wherever  we  are  found,  so 
we  have  the  same  litanies,  the  same  hymns  and  tunes,  the 
same  mode  of  administering  the  sacraments,  all  the  world 
over.  In  this  connection  I  cannot  forbear  mentioning  a 
precious  little  manual  of  devotion,  published  annually,  and 
called  The  Text  Book.  It  contains,  for  each  day  in  the 
year,  two  passages  from  the  Scriptures,  the  one  taken  from 
the  Old,  and  the  other  from  the  New  Testament;  to  these 
texts  are  added  suitable  stanzas  from  our  collection  of 
hymns.  The  work  is  designed  to  direct  the  attention  of 
our  brethren  and  sisters  throughout  the  whole  church,  daily 
to  the  same  words  of  Divine  Truth  as  to  watch-words  from 
the  Lord,  on  which  they  are  prayerfully  to  meditate  while 
fighting  the  good  fight  of  faith.  These  texts  also  consti- 
tute, very  frequently,  the  basis  of  discourses  addressed  by 
the  ministers  to  their  congregations  in  the  evening  services 
of  the  week. 

My  closing  remarks  bear  on  the  solemn  occasion  which 
has  brought  us  together.  I  will  briefly  advert  to  the  views 
of  death  and  the  grave,  entertained  by  the  Brethren.  We 
know  that  as  many  as  are  true  believers,  living  in  fellow- 
ship with  Jesus,  who  has  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death,  are 
delivered  from  the  fear  of  it,  and,  with  the  apostle,  can 
confidently  say:  "I  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better;  for  to  me  to  live  is  Christ  and  to  die 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  109 

is  gain."  (Phil.  i.  23  and  21.)  We  welcome  the  hour  in 
the  whicli,  our  work  on  earth  being  finished,  we  shall  be 
permitted  to  close  our  eyes  and  fall  asleep  in  Jesus,  assured 
that  our  spirits  will  enter  the  mansions  which  lie  went  to 
prepare  for  us.  The  grave  has  lost  its  terrors  since  Jesus 
made  it  his  bed,  and  sanctified  it  as  the  resting-place  for  our 
mortal  remains  until  the  glorious  day  of  resurrection,  wlien 
"what  is  sown  in  corruption  shall  be  raised  in  incorruption, 
wdiat  is  sown  a  natural  body  shall  be  raised  a  spiritual  body" 
(1  Cor.  XV.  42  and  44);  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "shall 
change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto 
his  glorious  body"  (Phil.  iii.  21),  and  we  shall  be  forever 
with  the  Lord, 

Our  burying-grounds,  which  we  love  to  call "  God's  acres," 
are  somewhat  peculiar  in  their  arrangements.  We  recognize 
no  distinction  between  rich  and  poor,  but  the  remains  of 
those  that  die  are  deposited  in  regular  succession,  in  rows, 
according  to  certain  rules.  Over  each  grave  there  is  a  low 
mound,  and  on  this  a  small  marble  tablet,  inscribed  with 
the  name  and  age  of  the  sleeper  in  death.  Monuments, 
properly  so  called,  if  found  in  our  Moravian  cemeteries,  are 
there  only  by  way  of  exception.  Our  burying-grounds  are 
generally  laid  oat  in  such  a  manner  that  simplicity  and 
regularity  are  combined  with  taste  and  beauty,  and  shady 
walks  invite  to  the  consecrated  spot,  so  well  fitted  for  de- 
vout meditations. 

In  these  days  it  will  be  our  privilege  to  stand  at  the 
tombs  of  brethren  who,  while  faithfully  laboring  among  the 
Indians  of  this  region,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  and  His 
Church,  received  the  welcome  summons  to  enter  into  their 
rest  and  to  enjoy  their  everlasting  reward.  As  we  shall  look 
on  the  monuments,  the  work  of  human  hands,  and  remember 
the  precious  dust  deposited  beneath  them,  let  us  also  look, 
first,  to  the  graves  that  severally  wait  for  each  of  us,  and 


110 


MORAVIANS   IX   NEW   YORK 


then  devoutly  and  gratefully  lift  up  our  eyes  to  see,  by 
faith,  our  Father's  house  on  high,  with  its  many  mansions. 
And  may  we,  one  and  all,  through  infinite  mercy,  having 
washed  our  garments  clean  in  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  be 
found  ready,  when  the  Lord  shall  come,  to  meet  Him  with 
holy  rapture,  and  receive  at  His  hands  the  crown  of  righte- 
ousness ! 

The  Bishop  having  finished,  the  choir  performed  the  an- 
them— "How  bright  the  New  Jerusalem,"  etc. 


ORGAN  OR    MELODEOX. 


Solemn. 


d= 


J=^=d: 


SEg 


Sis: 


tj 


^: 


:^^::^ 


ZZ^: 


:?2z=^ 


¥ 


How      bright  the    new    Je    - 

I  I         I 


lJ^ 


ru    -    sa  -  lem,  Where    sparkles     each      ce 

J-J- 


:^ 


2!^ 


'SEf^ 


T^- 


^ 


r 


-^—(^ 


-j-j. 


— ^ ^^ ?-t: 


Spi 


=?2- 


-^ 


^=^=S=^=s=F 


-p—«\- 


les    -    tial         gem,    Where  dwell    the      saints     vie     -    to    -    ri  -  ous ;  Her 


m 


--m 


3: 


p — p- 


m 


^- 


=p=p= 


^^=H=d^ 


^ 


Z^Jl 


=^=^ 


:?2 — ^. 


-<^ — <^^ 


^^F=r 


walls    with    heav'n  -  ly 


e^ 


S=r£ 


tre      shine,     Her        tem  -  t)le        is  the 


:a 


J. 


i^ 


=S^^ 


:^ 


e 


2=^^ 


£=?2 


:^^ 


:ti==i 


i 


s=^=^- 


:^=:: 


F^=P=^ 


f=r 


T^-     kg= 


her         light        most  glo    -    ri    -    ous. 

J-        ,_ 


idr 


thi-one    di    -    vine,    The 


Lamb 


=P 


-^ 


^-- 


:?2= 


::^ 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


Ill 


BE 


Bless  -  ed        sa    -    cred        hab    -    i     -     ta    -    tioa  of       sal    -    va  -  tion, 

I  I 


±Ai 


r^      |tw      p      p" 


i^ 


T^'- 


g 


-P= 


^^tei 


^ 


:^ 


I       I 


g^g=p=Fr^FEF 


-p-p^ 


I*— p— ^1— + 


Zi  -  on's  mountain,        Water'd     by     the         liv  -  in 


--^ 


I 


LJ: 


taiu. 

i 


ip^: 


2.  Thrice  happy  who  are  gone  before, 
With  hosts  angelic  to  adore, 

The  God  of  our  salvation  ; 
Rapt  fancy  hears  the  ceaseless  song, 
Of  that  unnumbered  blessed  throng, 

From  ev'ry  age  and  nation. 
May  we  join  thee,  ever  glorious, 

Ransom'd  chorus, 
Heav'n  translated, 

Never  to  be  separated  ! 

The  Uev.  Edmund  de  Scliweinitz  now  rose,  and  gave  the 
following  historical  sketch  of  the  Church  of  the  United 
Brethren : — 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  REV.  MR.  DE  SCHWEINITZ.' 

My  friends,  I  rise  in  place  of  another  clergyman  of  the 
church  represented  here,  who  was  appointed  to  give  you,  on 
this  occasion,  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  Moravians,  but 
who,  unfortunately  is  detained  at  home  by  very  important 

^  Mr.  dc  Schweinitz's  address,  as  delivered  on  the  occasion,  was  altogether 
extemporaneous.  What  is  here  given,  is  the  substance  of  his  remarks, 
written  out  by  him  at  a  later  time. 


112  MOKAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

official  duties.  My  own  time  has  been  so  much  occupied 
that  I  am  not  prepared  to  deliver  a  formal  address,  but  can 
promise  you  only  a  simple  statement,  from  memory,  of  the 
leading  facts  of  Moravian  history. 

In  the  heart  of  Europe,  surrounded  by  mountain  chains, 
except  towards  the  south,  lie  two  contiguous  countries, 
whose  history,  although  comparatively  little  known  to  the 
general  reader,  is  full  of  interest,  and  often  of  a  startling 
character.  These  are  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  at  present 
provinces  of  the  Austrian  Empire.  In  the  ninth  century 
of  our  era,  two  missionaries  of  the  Greek  Church,  who 
were  originally  from  regions  where  the  apostle  Paul  had 
himself  labored,  came  to  the  Bohemians  and  Moravians, 
and  taught  them  the  great  truths  of  Christianity.  The 
one  was  Cyrill,  who  invented  a  Slavonian  alphabet,  and 
translated  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular ;  the  other,  Metho- 
dius, his  brother,  and  faithful  coadjutor  in  establishing  a 
national  and  not  a  Latin  church.  It  appears  that,  from  the 
earliest  times  of  their  Christian  history,  the  people  of  these 
two  countries  protested  against  the  usurpations  of  the 
Romish  Hierarchy,  and  for  many  years  refused  to  submit 
to  its  sway,  although  the  popes  steadfastly  endeavored  to 
attach  lands  so  rich  and  fertile  to  their  see.  And  when,  at 
last,  through  the  stress  of  political  relations,  Bohemia  was 
made  a  Romish  bishopric,  there  arose  in  the  nation,  at 
various  times,  men  of  God,  who  were  animated  by  a  far 
more  liberal  spirit,  and  had  a  better  and  deeper  conception 
of  the  truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  than  the  bigoted  upholders  of 
the  papacy.  Distinguished  above  all  the  rest,  enlightened 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  champion  of  an  open  Bible,  the 
great  Reformer  before  the  Reformation — was  John  Hus. 
He  was  born  in  the  year  1373.  The  writings  and  sermons 
of  this  man  opened  the  way  for  a  new  epoch  in  the  ecclesi- 
astical history  of  his  native  country,  and  made  him  the 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  113 

apostle  of  the  Moravian  Cliiu'ch.  He  took  a  bold  and  de- 
cided stand  against  the  corruptions  of  the  Hierarchy,  and 
especially  against  the  infamous  sale  of  indulgences,  com- 
menced in  1412  by  order  of  Pope  John.  Under  these 
circumstances,  Rome  became  alarmed,  as  might  well  be 
expected;  and,  in  1414,  Hus  was  cited  to  appear  before 
the  Church-Council  which  had  convened  at  Constance,  a 
town  lying  on  Lake  Boden,  in  Switzerland,  He  obeyed 
the  summons,  and  was  treacherously  cast  into  prison. 
Every  exertion  to  induce  him  to  recant  proving  fruitless, 
he  was  condemned  as  a  heretic,  and  burnt  alive  at  the 
stake  on  the  6th  of  July,  1415. 

The  consequences  of  this  bloody  act  were  fearful.  A 
most  sanguinary  contest,  known  as  the  Hussite  War,  broke 
out  in  Bohemia,  and  raged  for  a  number  of  years.  The 
Hussites  forgot  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  him  whose  name 
they  bore.  It  was  a  bitter,  relentless  conflict  of  races, 
marked  by  all  the  atrocities  of  civil  commotions,  and  brought 
to  an  end  only  through  the  disputes  between  the  two  fac- 
tions— Calixtines  and  Taborites — into  which  the  Hussites 
had  themselves  separated.  Rome  satisfied  the  Calixtines  by 
certain  concessions,  which  the  Taborites  would  not  accept; 
and  then  induced  the  former  to  turn  their  arms  aijainst  the 
latter,  who  were  totally  defeated  and  overthrown.  The 
Calixtines  now  became  the  national  church  of  Bohemia. 

But  not  all  the  followers  of  Hus  had  resorted  to  arms. 
There  were  those  in  the  city  of  Prague,  and  others  scat- 
tered over  the  country,  who  adhered  to  the  pure  doctrines 
of  the  Bible  as  expounded  by  their  Master,  and  earnestly 
prayed  for  a  general  reformation  of  the  church.  These  men 
of  God,  about  the  year  1450,  were  greatly  encouraged  by 
the  interest  manifested,  on  the  part  of  the  Calixtine  Bishop 
Rokyzan,  in  the  cause  which  they  had  at  heart.  He 
preached  with  great  power  against  the  corruptions  which 


114  MORAVIANS   IX   NEW   YORK 

polluted  the  church,  and  exhorted  the  Bohemians  to  return 
to  the  doctrines  and  practice  of  Hus.  Unfortunately, 
however,  this  proved  to  be  but  a  momentary  burst  of  enthu- 
siasm. The  awakened  had  frequent  interviews  with  the 
Bishop,  and  besought  him  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
those  wdio  longed  for  a  reformation  of  doctrine  and  life  in 
the  church ;  but  he  gave  them  always  evasive  answers.  At 
last,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  their  importunities,  he  secured 
permission  for  them,  from  the  Regent  of  Bohemia,  to  take 
up  their  abode  on  an  estate  called  Lititz,  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  country ;  there  they  might  enjoy  a  quiet  retreat, 
and  edify  one  another  in  the  Lord.  Little  did  the  man 
anticipate  the  far-reaching  result  that  should  grow  out  of 
this  step!  A  number  of  the  awakened  in  Prague  at  once 
embraced  the  permission  which  the  Regent  had  granted,  and 
established  themselves  on  the  barony  of  Lititz.  They  were 
joined  very  soon  by  others  of  like  mind,  from  different 
parts  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  A  pious  and  liberal  priest 
of  the  Calixtines  ministered  to  them  in  holy  things ;  and 
before  long  the  settlers  of  Lititz  were  united  in  bonds  of 
true  fellowship  and  love,  and  constituted  a  religious  society 
that  had  for  its  purpose  the  furtherance  of  spirituality  in 
its  own  midst,  and  a  general  reformation  of  the  church. 

In  the  year  1457,  this  society  assumed  a  more  positive 
form.  A  general  meeting  of  the  evangelical  inhabitants  of 
the  barony  was  called,  on  which  occasion  certain  principles 
of  doctrine  and  practice  were  adopted,  twenty-eight  elders 
chosen,  and  the  name  "  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  law  of 
Christ"  was  given  to  the  Association.  Such,  my  friends, 
was  the  first  organization  of  the  Moravian  United  Brethren's 
Church,  four  hundred  and  two  years  ago. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  years,  the  Brethren  were  led  to 
realize  more  and  more  the  importance  and  necessity  of 
separating  entirely  from  the  Calixtine  establishment,  and 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  115 

changing  their  society  into  a  regular  church.  Several  con- 
ventions were  held  to  deliberate  on  this  important  subject, 
and  in  the  year  1467,  it  was  brought  to  an  issue.  At  Lhota, 
a  village  of  Bohemia,  about  seventy  representatives  of  the 
Brethren  assembled,  and,  after  very  earnest  and  prayerful 
consultations,  resolved  to  submit  to  the  Lord,  by  the  lot, 
the  decision  of  the  question  whether  an  independent  minis- 
try should  be  established  or  not.  They  were  guided  in  this 
resolution  by  the  example  of  the  Apostles. 

The  manner  in  which  the  Synod  proceeded,  on  this  occa- 
sion, is  interesting.  First,  nine  candidates  were  elected  by 
ballot,  then  twelve  tickets,  of  which  three  were  inscribed 
with  the  word  est^  and  nine  left  blank,  were  put  into  an 
urn.  Next,  after  a  fervent  prayer  had  been  offered  up,  a 
boy  was  called  into  the  assembly,  who  took  nine  tickets 
singly  from  the  urn,  and  handed  one  to  each  of  the  nine 
candidates  ;  three  tickets  remaining  in  the  urn.  You  will 
readily  perceive  the  object  of  this  arrangement.  The  three 
lots  in  the  urn  might  have  been  those  inscribed  with  est^  and 
the  candidates  might  all  have  received  blanks.  Had  this 
been  the  case,  the  Synod  would  have  regarded  it  as  an  inti- 
mation from  the  Lord,  that  the  Brethren  were  not  to  insti- 
tute a  ministry  of  their  own.  But  such  was  not  the  result. 
When  the  lots  were  opened,  it  was  found  that  three  of  the 
candidates  had  received  the  three  tickets  marked  est.  The 
Synod  rejoiced  with  humble  gratitude,  when  this  decision 
was  made  known.  But  now  the  question  arose — who  shall 
ordain  these  men*?  It  was  one  of  the  utmost  moment. 
After  having  taken  counsel  together,  the  Synod  determined 
to  secure  the  episcopal  succession  from  a  colony  of  Wal- 
denses,  living  on  the  confines  of  Bohemia  and  Austria. 
This  colony  was  said  to  have  obtained  the  succession. 
Three  deputies  Avere  accordingly  sent  to  the  Waldenses, 
who  gave  them  a  full  and  satisfactory  account  of  their  epis- 


116  MORAVIANS   IX   NEW   YOEK 

copate ;  and  then  Bishop  Stephen,  with  his  assistants,  con- 
secrated these  deputies  the  first  bishops  of  the  Brethren's 
Church.  In  this  way,  the  ecclesiastical  organization  was 
completed. 

The  Brethren,  in  the  course  of  the  next  half  century, 
increased  very  much,  in  spite  of  the  many  and  bloody  per- 
secutions to  which  they  were  subjected.  In  their  case, 
as  in  that  of  the  primitive  Christians,  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  was  the  seed  of  the  Church.  When  the  general 
reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  began,  these  earlier 
reformers  possessed  more  than  two  hundred  churches  in 
Bohemia  and  Moravia,  had  published  several  Confessions 
of  Faith,  a  translation  of  the  Bible,  a  Catechism,  and 
were  preparing  a  collection  of  evangelical  hymns.  Nor 
did  their  labors  cease,  or  their  zeal  relax,  when  Luther 
and  his  coadjutors  appeared.  On  the  contrary,  they 
drew  new  life  from  their  intercourse  with  these  men  of 
God,  extended  the  Church  to  Poland,  established  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  issued  the  celebrated  Bohemian  Bible 
of  Cralitz  (translated  by  their  bishops  from  the  origi- 
nal, after  a  labor  of  fifteen  years,  and  printed  in  six  folio 
volumes),  and  developed  their  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual 
resources  in  various  other  ways.  In  1557,  when  the  Church 
had  existed  for  one  century,  it  was  composed  of  three  pro- 
vinces— the  Bohemian,  Moravian,  and  Polish — confederated 
as  one  Unitas  Fratrum,  or  Unity  of  the  Brethren.  About 
half  a  century  later,  by  the  "  Letters  of  Majesty"  which  the 
Emperor  Rudolph  II.  published,  the  Brethren,  together 
with  the  other  Protestant  denominations  of  Bohemia  and 
Moravia,  were  legally  acknowledged  as  a  church.  But 
this  season  of  outward  prosperity  was  of  short  duration. 
Eleven  years  afterwards,  the  well-known  "  Anti-Reforma- 
tion," under  Ferdinand  II.,  began.  It  was  the  purpose  of 
this  bigoted  monarch  to  rid   his  dominions  entirely  and 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  117 

forever  of  all  heretics.  Capuchin  monks,  with  the  imperial 
sentence  on  their  lips:  "Abjure  your  heretical  faith,  or 
leave  the  country!"  —  and  dragoons  enforcing  it  by  their 
swords,  together  scoured  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Bohemia 
and  Moravia  in  search  of  Protestants.  More  than  thirty 
thousand  of  the  inhabitants  emigrated.  The  churches 
of  the  Brethren  were  closed,  their  people  scattered,  their 
bishops  and  ministers  in  exile.  A  similar  fate  befell  the 
Lutherans  and  lleformed.  When  the  year  1627  opened, 
the  Moravian  and  Bohemian  branches  of  the  Unitas  Fra- 
trum  had  ceased  to  exist.  The  Polish  branch  remained  for 
some  time  longer,  but  gradually  was  lost  in  the  Reformed 
Church  of  that  country.  For  a  century  and  nearly  three 
quarters  of  a  century,  did  the  Ancient  Unity  of  the  Breth- 
ren continue,  and  then,  in  the  inscrutable  providence  of 
God,  it  was  overthrown.  But  God,  who  permitted  this, 
had  glorious  purposes  in  view.  A  new  church  was  to  rise 
from  the  midst  of  the  ruins  of  the  old,  and  extend  the  doc- 
trines and  zealous  labors  of  the  Reformers  before  the 
Reformation,  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

A  "  hidden  seed"  remained  in  Moravia  and  Bohemia,  for 
a  period  of  ninety-four  years.  Of  this  seed,  let  me  proceed 
to  speak.  When  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  Brethren, 
with  the  broken  remnant  of  his  flock,  was  fleeing  from 
Moravia  to  Poland,  in  the  time  of  the  Anti-Reformation, 
and  had  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain  ridge  which 
divides  the  former  country  from  Silesia,  he  fell  down  on 
his  knees,  and,  looking  with  indescribable  emotions  towards 
his  native  land,  poured  out  his  heart  in  fervent  prayer 
before  God,  beseeching  Him  that  He  would  preserve  a 
seed  of  righteousness  in  that  country,  and  not  suffer  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  altogether  to  pass  away.  This  man 
was  Amos  Comenius,  the  connecting  link  between  the 
Ancient  and  Renewed  Church.     Fifteen  years  later,  at  a 


118  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

Synod,  held  at  Lissa  by  a  number  of  tlie  dispersed  Brethren," 
he  was  consecrated  a  Bishop  of  the  Moravian  branch  of  the 
Unity — a  branch  which  the  Brethren  at  that  time  hoped 
would  be  speedily  restored,  through  the  power  of  the  Pro- 
testant arms,  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  But  their  expec- 
tations were  not  fulfilled.  The  peace  of  AVestphalia  was 
concluded,  without  the  least  provision  having  been  made 
for  the  evangelical  churches  which  once  flourished  in 
Bohemia  and  Moravia.  Still  the  soul  of  Comenius  was 
filled  with  a  prophetical  anticipation  of  the  renewal  of  the 
Church  of  his  fathers.  To  this  end,  he  continually  directed 
his  eff'orts,  during  his  long  exile,  the  greater  part  of  which 
was  spent  in  Holland.  I  may  sum  up  the  chief  results  of 
his  labors  in  this  respect  as  follows :  He  published  the 
discipline  of  the  Brethren,  and  a  history  of  their  Church, 
together  with  reflections  of  his  own,  and  dedicated  the 
whole  to  the  Church  of  England,  to  whose  kind  ofiices  he 
solemnly  recommended  the  Brethren's  Unity  in  the  event 
of  its  renewal ;  he  issued  a  catechism  containing  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Brethren,  and  dedicated  it  to  "  the  godly  sheep 
of  Christ,"  as  he  called  the  members  of  the  Ancient  Church 
and  their  descendants,  living  in  a  number  of  Moravian 
villages,  Avhich  he  mentioned  by  name,  and  from  each  of 
which  immigrants  afterwards  came  to  establish  the  Renewed 
Church ;  and,  above  all,  he  cared  for  the  preservation  of  the 
episcopate,  in  hope  against  hope,  so  that  the  succession 
might  not  be  extinct,  in  case  the  Church  should  be  resusci- 
tated. Having  done  these  things,  besides  gaining  for  him- 
self a  European  reputation  by  his  other  literary  labors,  this 
venerable  man — the  last  Bishop  of  the  Moravian-Bohemian 
line — finished  his  course  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his 
age. 

Meanwhile  the  principles  and  traditions  of  the  fathers 
had  been  preserved  in  a  number  of  families,  particularly  in 


AND   COXXECTICUT.  119 

Moravia.  Outwardly  these  were  under  the  sway  of  Rome, 
but  secretly  they  read  the  Bible  and  sang  the  hymns  of  the 
Brethren.  Exile  pastors  came,  now  and  then,  and  privately 
administered  the  sacraments  to  them.  This  state  of  things 
continued  for  some  time.  It  is  true  that  towards  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  evangelical  truth  had  been  for- 
gotten to  a  great  extent  among  the  descendants  of  the 
Brethren ;  still  there  were  single  families  who  held  to  it,  and 
enlightened  patriarchs  who  were  preachers  of  righteousness 
among  their  people.  Let  me  refer  to  one  of  these  men  of 
God.  His  name  was  George  Jaeschke.  He  loved  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  and  after  a  long  pilgrimage 
of  fourscore  years  and  three,  extending  from  the  beginning 
almost  to  the  end  of  the  period  of  the  "  Hidden  Seed,"  when 
he  was  dying  he  called  his  grandsons  around  him,  and  with 
an  inspiration  that  was  well-nigh  prophetical,  declared  it 
to  be  his  firm  conviction  that  the  time  for  the  renewal  of 
the  church  was  close  at  hand,  solemnly  exhorting  them  not 
to  hesitate  at  any  sacrifices,  if  the  Lord  should  call  them  to 
go  out  of  their  country  and  their  father's  house  into  a 
strange  land  which  He  would  show  them.  Having  im- 
parted to  them  his  blessing,  the  patriarch  gave  up  the 
ghost.  This  was  in  the  year  1707;  fifteen  years  afterw^ards 
his  anticipations  were  fulfilled.  Let  me  proceed  to  the 
history  of  the  Renewed  Church,  although  time  will  permit 
me  to  draw  only  a  few  bare  outlines. 

God  made  use  of  a  number  of  men  as  instruments  in  the 
resuscitation  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  I  will  mention  only 
two  of  them,  and  must  pass  by  the  rest.  The  one  was  a 
nobleman  of  an  ancient  and  distinguished  family,  the  other 
a  humble  mechanic — the  one  a  count,  the  other  a  carpenter — 
the  one  wealthy  and  influential,  the  other  poor  and  without 
friends.  Zinzendorf,  the  son  of  one  of  the  prime  ministers 
at  the  Court  of  Saxony;  Christian  David,  a  Moravian  exile, 


120  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

once  a  Romanist,  afterwards  converted  to  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus — these  were  the  men.  Both  loved  the  Saviour 
with  all  their  hearts,  and  were  full  of  zeal  to  promote  his 
glory.  Christian  David,  during  a  period  of  five  years,  made 
frequent  visits  to  his  native  country,  and  came  to  the  former 
seats  of  the  Brethren.  Wherever  he  stayed  he  preached  the 
gospel.  An  awakening  took  place  through  his  instrumen- 
tality in  different  parts  of  Moravia.  After  a  time  some  of 
the  awakened  began  to  long  for  a  place  where  they  might 
worship  the  Lord  in  peace  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
conscience.  Christian  David  promised  to  do  for  them,  in 
this  respect,  what  he  could ;  but  at  first  his  exertions  were 
fruitless.  In  the  year  1722,  Count  Zinzendorf,  who  had 
meanwhile  purchased  an  estate  called  Berthelsdorf,  in  Sax- 
ony, heard  of  David  through  a  mutual  friend,  and  sent  for 
him.  The  result  of  the  interview  was,  that  the  Moravian 
carpenter  and  missionary,  for  so  he  may  be  called,  was 
made  the  bearer  of  an  invitation  from  the  Count  to  the 
awakened  in  Moravia  to  come  and  settle  on  his  estate, 
where  they  should  find  a  secure  retreat.  On  Whit-Monday 
of  that  year,  Christian  David  unexpectedly  reappeared 
among  his  friends  in  Moravia,  who  had  given  up  the  hope 
of  ever  seeing  him  again,  and  delivered  Zinzendorf's  mes- 
sage. Now  God's  time  for  fulfilling,  in  his  own  way,  the 
prayer  of  Comenius,  uttered  on  the  mountain  top,  was  come. 
In  the  night  of  the  27th  of  May,  at  ten  o'clock,  two  of  the 
grandsons  of  the  patriarch  Jaeschke,  with  their  families, 
ten  souls  together,  left  house  and  home,  and  all  they  had, 
for  the  Lord's  sake,  and  under  the  guidance  of  Christian 
David,  reached  Berthelsdorf  in  safety,  after  a  journey  of 
twelve  days.  On  the  seventeenth  of  June,  this  little  com- 
pany of  immigrants  was  assembled  in  a  thick  forest  of  the 
estate,  and  Christian  David,  full  of  faith,  struck  his  axe  into 
a  tree,  exclaiming:  "Here  the  sparrow  hath  found  a  house, 


AXD   CONNECTICUT.  121 

and  the  swallow  a  nest  for  herself,  where  she  may  lay  her 
young,  even  thine  altars,  O  Lord  of  hosts,  my  King  and 
my  God."  Psm.  Ixxxiv.  3.  That  tree  was  the  first  cut  down 
for  the  building  of  the  town  of  Herrnhut,  and  Herrnhut, 
now  a  flourishing  Moravian  settlement  in  Saxony,  is  the 
mother  congregation  of  the  Renewed  Unitas  Fratrum. 

Immigrants  from  Moravia  continued  to  arrive  on  Zinzen- 
dorf's  estate ;  others  from  Germany  joined  them.  In  five 
years'  time  Herrnhut  numbered  three  hundred  inhabitants. 
In  1727  a  church  was  regularly  organized,  by  the  introduc- 
tion, in  a  somewhat  modified  form,  of  the  ancient  Moravian 
discipline,  preserved  in  the  work  of  Comenius,  of  which  I 
spoke  before.  Eight  years  later,  the  resuscitation  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum  was  completed  by  the  transfer,  to  the 
Brethren  at  Herrnhut,  of  the  episcopal  succession  which 
had  been  kept  up  by  the  pious  efi"orts  of  Comenius.  On 
March  13,  1735,  David  Nitschmann,  a  Moravian  immi- 
grant, was  consecrated  the  first  Bishop  of  the  Renewed 
Church,  by  Daniel  Jablonsky  and  Christian  Sitkovius,  the 
survivors  of  the  ancient  line.  Two  years  afterwards,  Zin- 
zendorf  himself  received  the  episcopal  consecration,  having 
resigned  his  post  at  the  Saxon  Court,  and  devoted  himself 
entirely  to  the  service  of  the  Lord  and  His  church. 

Such,  my  friends,  was  the  renewal  of  the  ancient  Church 
of  confessors,  respecting  which  I  have  been  speaking  to  you 
to-night.  The  spirit  of  the  fathers  descended  upon  it. 
Moravian  Brethren  went  forth  from  Herrnhut,  ten  years 
after  its  founding,  when  the  settlement  numbered  scarcely 
six  hundred  souls,  as  missionaries  to  various  degraded 
heathen  nations  of  the  earth ;  others  established  colonies 
in  Great  Britain  and  America.  The  first  Moravian  settle- 
ment on  this  continent  was  commenced  in  Georgia,  in 
1735.  In  1741  the  Brethren  came  to  Pennsylvania,  and 
began  to  labor  among  the  Indian  tribes.     To  the  present 


122  MORAVIANS   IX   NEW   YORK 

day  the  work  of  foreign  missions  chiefly  enlists  the  strength 
and  resources  of  the  church/ 

I  have  thus  endeavored,  my  friends,  by  this  simple  state- 
ment, to  tell  you  who  we  are,  and  what  the  Lord,  the  Lord 
God,  who  established  a  covenant  with  our  fathers,  has  done 
for  us  ;  and  to  Him  alone  I  would  most  emphatically  ascribe 

^  The  Moravian  home  Church,  at  the  present  time,  consists  of  three 
Provinces — the  American,  Continental,  and  British — numbering  together 
al)out  20,000  souls.  Of  these,  about  8300  constitute  the  church  in  the 
United  States.  These  Provinces  carry  on  the  following  operations  :  The 
American  Province  has  39  preaching  stations  and  14  missionaries  among 
the  German  immigrants  of  this  country.  The  Continental  Province  is 
engaged  in  a  very  extensive  domestic  mission  among  the  state  churches  of 
the  continent  of  Europe,  employing  120  male  and  female  missionaries. 
About  80,000  souls  have  been  gathered  as  the  result  of  this  mission,  but 
not  into  full  communion  with  the  Moravian  Church,  since  the  purpose  of 
the  work  is  not  to  proselyte,  but  to  evangelize.  In  the  three  Provinces 
together,  there  are  44  Boarding  Schools  belonging  to  the  Church,  as  such, 
and  managed  by  it.  At  these  schools  about  2050  scholars  are  annually 
instructed,  by  357  teachers.  Four  of  these  institutions  are  in  the  U.  S., 
having  615  pupils,  and  92  teachers.  The  more  particular  statistics  of 
the  foreign  mission  work,  not  given  in  the  address  of  Bishop  WoUe, 
are  as  follows  :  Adults  baptized  and  confirmed,  20,193;  adults  baptized, 
11,413;  total  of  adults  in  church  fellowship,  31,6t0;  children  baptized, 
21,196;  total  in  church  fellowship  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  53,582; 
new  converts  and  candidates  for  baptism,  20,731 ;  whole  number  of  con- 
verts, 74,538;  stations,  74;  missionaries,  312.  Since  the  first  commence- 
ment of  this  work,  the  Church  has  sent  out  2087  missionaries  into  heathen 
lands.  Besides  the  fields  now  occupied,  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made 
at  various  times  to  establish  missions  in  Lapland,  among  the  Samoyedes, 
in  Algiers,  Ceylon,  China,  Persia,  East  Indies,  Caucasus,  and  Demarara. 
In  Guinea,  Abyssinia,  Tranquebar,  and  among  the  Calmucks,  missions  sub- 
sisted for  a  time,  but  had  to  be  suspended.  Dui'ing  the  last  25  years,  there 
has  been  an  increase  in  the  foreign  mission  field  of  32  stations,  104  mis- 
sionaries, and  nearly  31,000  converts.  The  whole  number  of  foreign  and 
home  or  domestic  mi><sionaries,  at  this  time,  is  446.  The  whole  number 
of  souls  connected  with  theUnitas  Fratrnm  is  al)out  175,000.  For  further 
particulars  respecting  the  Church,  consult  "The  Moravian  Manual,"  pub- 
lished at  Philadelphia  in  1859. 


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AND   CONNECTICUT.  123 

all  the  glory.  May  the  facts  of  history  mentioned  here  this 
evening,  tend  to  unite  us,  and  all  those  among  you  who  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  in  the  strong  bonds  of 
holy  fellowship  and  love!  The  names  and  histories  of 
God's  people  are  manifold  ;  but  I  rejoice  to  be  able  to  say 
that  the  great  purpose  of  the  Evangelical  Church  of  this 
country,  at  the  present  time,  seems  to  be  to  effect  a  unity 
of  the  spirit  among  all  those  who  "  name  the  name  of 
Christ,"  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  fulfilment,  more  real 
and  manifest  than  has  yet  been  witnessed,  of  the  Saviour's 
high-priestly  petition :  "  That  they  may  all  be  one." 

The  speaker  next  addressed  the  throne  of  Grace ;  and 
the  congregation  having  joined  in  the  following  stanza 
according  to  "Old  Hundred" — 

"  As  long  as  Jesus  Lord  remains, 
Each  day  new  rising  glory  gains; 
It  was,  it  is,  and  will  be  so 
With  His  church  militant  below'' — 

the  Bishop  pronounced  the  benediction,  and  thus  closed 
the  services  at  the  Bethel. 

SHEKOMEKO  INIONTJMEXT. 

Wednesday  proved  a  beautiful  but  warm  October  day. 
Agreeably  to  appointment,  the  members  of  the  committee 
met  at  Mr.  Hunting's  house,  preparatory  to  engaging  in  the 
services  at  the  Biittner  monument;  and,  at  10^  A.  M.,  the 
procession  formed  as  follows: — 

1.  Trombonists. 

2.  The  Clergy  (including,  in  addition  to  those  of  the 
Moravian  Church,  the  llev.  S.  Davis,  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Walsh, 
and  the  llev.  S.  Iv.  Miller,  of  the  Episcopal  Church). 

3.  Members  of  the  Moravian  Historical  Society. 


124 


MORAVIANS  IN  NEW   YORK 


4.  Shekomeko  Literary  Association. 

5.  Citizens  on  foot ;  and 

6.  Citizens  in  carriages. 

Amid  the  strains  of  funereal  chorals  performed  by  the 
trombonists,  the  procession  moved  along  the  lane  that  leads 
from  the  farm-house  to  the  side  of  the  Shekomeko  Mission. 

The  chorals  are  part  of  the  Moravian  burial  service; 
some  of  those  that  are  performed  by  the  trombonists  from 
the  balcony  or  steeple  of  the  church  building,  in  a  Moravian 
settlement,  to  announce  the  death  of  a  member  of  the  con- 
gregation, or  while  the  procession  is  following  the  remains 
of  the  deceased  to  the  grave.  Each  choral  is  suggestive  of 
some  well-known  and  appropriate  stanza. 

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The  field  presented  an  animated  scene.  Great  numbers 
had  collected  to  witness  the  ceremonies,  afoot  or  in  vehicles, 
upwards  of  eighty  of  which  encircled  the  height  that  is 
crowned  by  the  monument.  It  was  estimated  that  one 
thousand  spectators  were  present.  In  thick  array  they  lis- 
tened with  marked  attention  to  the  solemn  services,  on 
which  nothing  broke  in  but  the  hum  of  cricket  and  grass- 
hopper, that  revelled  for  the  last  time  in  the  flood  of  fervid 
sunlight  that  poured  down  from  an  almost  summer  sky. 

The  Rev.  Sheldon  Davis  first  ascended  the  platform,  and, 
in  an  address  warm  with  all  the  devotion  that  was  to  be 
expected  from  one  of  his  enthusiasm  in  the  occasion,  thus 
introduced  the  services: — 


126  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

ADDRESS  OF  THE  REV.  MR.  DAVIS. 

My  friends,  no  one  who  knows  the  history  of  which  this 
beautiful  block  of  marble  is  a  record  will  wonder  at  the 
concourse  w^liich  we  witness  here  to-day.  This  spot  is  the 
scene  of  hallowed  memories,  worthy  of  all  reverence  in  the 
hearts  of  Christian  men.  There  have  been  enacted  upon 
this  ground  deeds  among  the  noblest  and  most  worthy  in 
the  history  of  mankind,  deeds  meet  to  stand  on  record  while 
the  world  stands  as  a  habitation  of  our  race,  deeds  that  are 
so  recorded  in  the  book  of  God's  remembrance,  that,  until 
the  archangel's  trump  shall  wake  the  dead,  his  ministering 
spirits  shall  waft  along  their  fame  to  the  latest  generations 
of  mankind. 

Yes,  doubtless,  guardian  angels  hover  round  this  spot  ! 
Their  bright  wings  seem  even  now  joyfully  to  float  over  the 
balmy  vale  of  Shekomeko,  in  the  radiant  sunbeams  of  this 
glorious  day.  In  their  sleepless  watch  and  ward,  this  grave, 
these  memories,  shall  never  be  forgotten.  A  half  century 
of  almost  utter  darkness  has  just  been  past ;  and  to  a  bat- 
tered fragment  held  in  the  watchful  keeping  of  that  angel 
band  we  owe  the  revelation  of  the  tomb  where  sleeps,  where 
rests  in  hope,  the  Christian  hero,  saint,  and  martyr,  the 
blessed  Biittner. 

But  why  this  interest  in  Biittner'?  He  was  but  a  man; 
he  was  but  an  ordinary,  unlearned  man,  and  but  a  youth ; 
his  age,  as  marked  upon  this  stone,  is  less  than  thirty  years, 
his  labor  here  but  three  short  years,  and  most  of  that  in 
bitter  grief  and  sorrow.  But  he  was  faithful  in  the  work 
to  which  God  called  him  ;  and,  when  God  called  him  hence, 
his  work  was  finished.  A  fit  memorial  this  to  Gottlob 
Biittner !  And  may  the  grateful  fragrance  of  his  venerated 
name  and  of  his  holy  work  pervade  the  region  where  he 
labored,  and  beneath  whose  soil  he  sleeps  from  age  to  age, 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  127 

from  generation  to  generation,  to  whom  this  stone  shall  be 
a  mute  but  eloquent  witness  of  his  deeds ! 

But  Gottlob  Biittner  owes  not  this  monument  to  any- 
thing he  was  or  did.  It  was  enough  for  Gottlob  Biittner — 
it  was  all  he  sought — to  live  and  die  as  God  appointed  him. 
Thousands  of  Christian  men,  thousands  of  Moravians  have 
lived  and  died  as  faithfully  as  he,  and  been  forgotten.  The 
very  name,  indeed,  Moravian^  is  redolent  with  Christian  faith 
and  hope.  The  faithless  man  who  bears  that  noble  name 
dishonors  it.  The  name  Moravian  is  the  synonym  of  Chris- 
tian zeal,  and  faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  such  as  scarce  any 
other  name  can  boast.  For  faithful  missionary  labor,  for 
earnest  missionary  effort  in  the  darkest  corners  of  the  earth, 
for  missionary  success  on  the  most  hopeless  ground,  it  has 
no  equal. 

And  the  special  interest  about  this  spot  is  that  the  Mo- 
ravians first  planted  here^  among  the  red  men  of  this  north- 
ern continent,  the  standard  of  the  cross,  first  began  that 
high  career  of  missionary  zeal  which  has  since  filled  the 
w^orld  with  their  renown. 

The  church  now  called  Moravian  is  an  ancient  heritage ; 
it  bears  the  marks  of  hoar  antiquity ;  it  was  a  church  of 
Protestants  long  before  the  name  of  Protestant  was  known ; 
its  ancient  history  was  written  in  blood,  shed  through  suc- 
cessive ages  by  the  cruel  rage  of  Pome ;  it  bears  the  scars 
of  that  long,  bloody  contest — honorable  scars,  indeed,  such 
as  alone  the  victor  bears  when  he  escapes,  half  dead,  the 
clouds,  and  dust,  and  clangor  of  the  battle. 

But  the  rich  treasure  committed  to  its  trust  was  still 
preserved ;  its  apostolic  faith  and  apostolic  order  were  still 
retained.  Almost  alone  of  all  the  Continental  churches,  at 
the  Reformation,  it  came  forth  in  its  full  integrity  and 
strength — not  strong  in  numbers,  not  strong  in  wealth,  not 
strong  in  any  earthly  gift,  but  in  a  greater  strength,  hold- 


128  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

ing  fast  the  blessed  promise,  Lo !  I  am  with  you  alivai/.  It 
was  the  happy  restoration  of  the  hope  based  on  this  precious 
promise  which  called  forth  the  gratitude  to  God  of  which 
this  work  at  Shekomeko  was  a  living  witness,  and  of  which 
this  stone  is  a  memorial,  I  trust,  to  many  generations.  And 
here,  as  ever,  they  who  hold  this  promise  fast  in  its  integ- 
rity are  also  found  to  hold  the  faith  which  it  embodies. 
Think  what  you  will  about  externals,  the  life  of  faith  de- 
pends upon  them.  The  apostolic  doctrine  is  seldom  severed 
from  the  apostolic  fellowship  ;  the  kernel  cannot  grow  with- 
out the  shell ;  the  spirit  cannot  live,  at  least  on  earth,  with- 
out the  body.  When  this  outward  tabernacle  shall  be 
dissolved,  who  shall  identify  the  soul  which  animated  it  ] 

To  Biittner's  honor,  it  is  here  recorded  that  he  "brought 
the  glad  tidings  to  the  heathen  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  had 
made  an  atonement  for  their  sins."  The  preaching  of  this 
doctrine  the  Moravians  claim,  and  justly  claim,  as  their 
peculiar  glory.  They  have  preached  it  as  few  other  men, 
since  apostolic  times,  have  preached  it.  That  was  the 
sword  which  pierced  the  savage  heart ;  that  was  the  talis- 
man which  awed  the  savage  spirit.  I  can  see  the  painted, 
reckless  desperado,  Tschoop,  in  yonder  birch-bark  hut,  list- 
ening with  awe-struck  reverence  to  that  charming  sound, 
and  mark  the  inspiring  ray  of  heavenly  hope  beam  over  his 
fierce  and  gloomy  countenance  as  he  hears  the  welcome 
tidings,  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  has  made  atonement  for  thy 
sins !"  "  Jesus  Christ  can  save  thee  from  the  burden  of  thy 
sins  !" 

Such,  my  friends  and  brethren,  is  the  real  history,  the 
true  origin  of  this  noble  monument.  And  what  gave  the 
Moravians  this  peculiar  power "?  That  is  the  question  here 
proposed  to-day.  Let  the  Moravians  solve  it.  But,  solve 
it  how  they  may,  they  will  not  fail  to  claim  their  noble 
heritage  as  an  ancient  apostolic  church,  tracing  its  origin 
from  apostolic  times,  noting  its  glowing  line  of  living  light 


AXD   CONNECTICUT.  129 

through  all  the  hoary  ages  of  the  past,  and  bringing  forth 
the  doctrine  of  Redemption  through  blood  and  fire,  that,  in 
these  later  times,  it  might  have  a  brighter  course  of  glory 
and  a  more  expansive  power. 

This  monument,  my  friends,  is  worthy  of  your  study. 
There  are  here  still  other  indications  of  the  richness,  ful- 
ness, soundness  of  the  Moravian  teaching,  and  the  just 
claim  of  the  Moravian  church  to  the  apostolic  character. 
Thus  it  reads :  "  As  many  as  received  this  doctrine  in  faith 
were  baptized  into  the  death  of  the  Lord."  '*  Go  ye  and 
make  disciples  of  all  nations."  This  was  the  commission 
under  which  they  acted.  Go  ye  and  make  disciples  of  all 
nations,  baptizing  them.  All  nations  !  Indian  nations, 
then,  as  well  as  others !  all  orders,  all  degrees,  both  sexes 
of  all  nations,  called  in  the  holy  covenant  of  God !  children 
as  well  as  those  grown  old  in  sin !  little  Indian  children,  in 
the  beautiful  Moravian  baptismal  language,  "  made  par- 
takers of  this  grace  /"  Read  again  upon  this  stone,  "  La- 
ZARA,"  an  Indian  child,  the  first  whose  sacred  form  was 
buried  in  this  consecrated  ground,  "  baptized"  "  born  from 
above"  "  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit"  "  buried  with 
Christ  by  baptism  into  his  death."  The  first  birth  is  not 
even  mentioned ;  that,  in  this  record,  seems  of  little  mo- 
ment, for  it  is  a  record  not  of  temporal,  but  of  spiritual 
things.  The  infant  Lazara  and  aged  Daniel  are  here  laid 
side  by  side;  and  both  are  said  to  be  baptized,  and  both  to 
enter  into  rest.  The  aged  Daniel  was,  by  conversion,  made 
as  a  little  child  ;  and  then  he  also  shared  the  infant's  bless- 
ing ;  and  to  each  alike  was  said :  "  Now,  therefore,  live,  yet 
not  thou,  but  Christ  live  in  thee ;"  and  for  both  alike  was 
sung  the  sweet  baptismal  stanza — 

"  The  Saviour's  blood  and  righteousness 
Our  beauty  is,  our  glorious  dress  ; 
Thus  well  arrayed,  we  will  not  fear 
When  in  his  presence  we  appear." 


130  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

Such,  my  friends,  are  some  of  the  points  of  interest  which 
we  have  felt  in  this  old  Moravian  mission.  We  have  thus 
read,  and  thought  we  understood,  at  least  in  part,  the  secret 
of  the  Moravian  influence  and  power  in  heathen  lands. 
One  of  the  darkest  blots  upon  the  page  of  our  colonial  his- 
tory was  the  legislative  act  by  which  this  blessed  work  was 
hindered,  and  finally  overthrown.  We  owe  the  tear  of 
penitence  to  that  false  step ;  and  the  best  recompense  which 
we  can  make  is  to  revere  the  memory  of  men  who  thus 
unjustly  suffered  at  our  fathers'  hands. 

Nor  will  we  fail  with  heartfelt  satisfaction  to  recall  the 
fact  that  the  Moravians,  while  they  owed  much  of  their 
ancient  light  to  that  great  champion  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  precursor  of  the  blessed  Reformation,  Wickliffe, 
have  ever  found  their  warmest  friends  and  advocates  within 
the  Church  of  England.  The  brave  ComeniuSj  worthy  of 
all  praise,  hoping  against  hope,  rested  his  final  hope,  as  next 
to  God,  upon  the  Church  of  England.  The  missionary 
bands  who  first  came  forth  into  these  western  wilds  under 
the  Moravian  banner  were  largely  aided  by  the  Church  of 
England,  The  learned  Archbishop  Potter,  the  patron  of 
Count  Zinzendorf,  was  their  counsellor  and  friend ;  and 
the  missionary  zeal  which  now  pervades  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  which  has  achieved,  of  late,  such  glorious  victo- 
ries of  grace  in  heathen  lands,  was  of  cotemporary  birth 
with  the  revived  Moravian  Church ;  it  owed  its  life  to  the 
same  spiritual  impulse.  The  Moravians  and  the  Church  of 
England  are  of  kindred  spirit ;  they  are  of  kindred  origin ; 
they  come  not  from  the  western  cloud-land,  the  realm  of 
spiritual  darkness  and  corruption ;  but  they  come,  like  the 
star  of  Bethlehem,  from  the  glorious  East,  where  the  bright 
Sun  of  Righteousness  arose,  with  healing  in  his  wings,  not 
from  Rome,  but  from  Jerusalem,  not  from  the  Latins,  but 
from  the  Greeks. 


AND   CONXECTICUT.  131 

The  chuvcli  of  wliich  I  am  a  member  and  a  minister,  and, 
if  I  felt  worthy  of  the  name  in  such  a  presence,  I  would 
say  7)ifssionan/,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  will  rejoice 
in  the  dedication  of  this  memorial — will  gladly  recog- 
nize, in  this  good  work,  an  auspicious  omen — will  behold 
in  it  rich  promise  for  the  future,  and  will  still  extend  a 
friendly  hand  to  the  Moravians,  as  to  those  who  have  a 
common  origin,  a  common  faith,  a  common  hope,  and  are 
as  one  in  the  same  bonds  of  Christian  charity  and  love. 

The  Kev.  Sylvester  AVolle  now  read  from  the  Moravian 
collection  the 

SECOND  LITANY  AT  BURIALS. 

Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Christ,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Clirist,  hear  us. 

Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,  halloioed  he  thy  name,  thy  kingdom  come  ; 
thy  loill  he  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven ;  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread; 
and  forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  tve  forgive  them  that  trespass  against  us :  and 
lead  us  not  into  temptation,  hid  deliver  us  from  evil;  for  thine  is  the  ling- 
dam,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

Holy  Father,  accept  us  as  thy  children  in  thy  beloved  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  who 
came  forth  from  thee,  and  came  into  the  world,  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us,  took  on  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  hath  redeemed  us,  lost  and  undone 
human  creatures,  from  all  sin  and  from  death,  with  his  holy  and  precious  blood, 
and  with  his  innocent  suffering  and  dying ;  to  the  end  that  we  should  be  his  own, 
and  in  his  kingdom  live  under  him  and  serve  him,  in  eternal  righteousness,  inno- 
cence, and  happiness ;  forasmuch  as  he,  being  risen  from  the  dead,  liveth  and 
reigneth,  world  without  end.    Amen. 

Therefore,  blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord,  from  henceforth  ;  yea, 
saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors. 

Whosoever  liveth  and  beliovcth  in  Christ  shall  never  die ;  for  He  is  the  Uesur- 
rection  and  the  Life,  and  went  to  prepare  a  place  for  us,  and  will  come  again, 
and  receive  us  into  himself,  that  where  he  is  there  we  may  be  also. 

Meanwhile,  none  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself;  for 
•whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord,  and  whether  we  die,  we  die  unto  the 
Lord ;  whether  we  live,  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's  ;  for  to  this  end 
Christ  both  died,  and  rose,  and  revived,  that  he  might  be  Lord  both  of  the  dead 
and  living. 


132 


MORAVIANS  IN   NEW  YORK 


Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection ;  on  such,  the 
second  death  hath  no  power ;  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ. 

0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  Thanks  be  to 
God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


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Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

And  keep  us  in  everlasting  fellowship  with  the  church  triumphant,  and  let  us 
rest  together  in  thy  presence  from  our  labors.     Amen. 

We  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better ;  we  shall  never 
taste  death  ;  and  we  shall  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead ;  for  the  body, 
which  we  shall  put  off,  this  grain  of  corruptibility,  shall  put  on  incorruption ; 
our  flesh  shall  rest  in  hope. 

The  Father  and  the  Son,  who  quicken  whom  they  will,  and  the  Spirit  of  Him 
who  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  will  also  quicken  these  our  mortal  bodies,  if 
so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  hath  dwelt  in  them. 

Glory  be  to  Him  who  is  the  Eesurrection  and  the  Life.  He  was  dead,  and 
behold  he  liveth  for  evermore.  And  he  that  believeth  in  Him,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live. 

Glory  be  to  Him  in  the  church  that  waiteth  for  Him,  and  in  that  which  is 
around  Him,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 


AND  CONNECTICUT. 


133 


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The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  us  all.     Amen. 

The  Rev.  Edwin  T.  Senseman  next  addressed  the  assembly 
in  these  words : — 


10 


134  WORAVIA>^S   IX   XEW   YORK 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  MR.  SENSEMAN. 

We  have  met  at  this  consecrated  spot  for  the  purpose  of 
dedicating  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the  most 
devoted  Christian  missionaries  to  the  aborigines  of  this 
country.  It  is  a  duty  which  we  believe  we  owe  to  him, 
whose  mortal  remains  lie  mouldering  in  the  tomb  around 
which  we  have  met.  AVe  would  celebrate  his  virtues,  grate- 
fully remember  his  toils,  and  give  evidence  to  those  who 
come  after  us  that,  though  our  generation  may  not  boast  of 
a  Christian  heroism  and  self-denial  equal  to  that  which 
Avas  so  gloriously  illustrated  in  the  lives  and  labors  of  our 
forefathers  a  century  ago,  we  still  can  and  do  appreciate 
their  virtues,  and  are  anxious  to  point  them  out  to  our 
children,  for  their  encouragement  in  well-doing. 

Gottlob  Biittner,  whose  remains  lie  buried  at  this  spot, 
and  in  whose  memory  we  have  erected  this  appropriate 
monument,  was  indeed  a  most  devoted  and  successful 
minister  and  missionary  of  Christ.  A  brief  account  of  his 
life  will  be  appropriate  here. 

He  was  born  in  Silesia,  now  a  province  of  Prussia,  on 
Dec.  29,  1716,  O.  S.  He  became  acquainted  with  the 
Brethren  at  their  settlements  of  Marienborn,  Herrnhaag, 
and  Herrnhut.  After  having  joined  the  church,  and  ex- 
pressed his  desire  to  serve  his  Lord  in  the  conversion  of 
the  Indians  of  North  America,  he  was  despatched  to  the 
New  World.  He  came  to  America  with  the  Brethren 
Pyrlaeus  and  Zander,  and  arrived  on  our  shores  in  October 
of  1741.  He  was  at  first,  for  a  short  season,  spiritual 
adviser  of  the  single  Brethren  at  Bethlehem,  Penna.,  next 
preached  to  the  Lutherans,  at  Tulpehocken  and  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  finally  was  appointed  to  labor  among  the  Mo- 
hican Indians,  at  Shekomeko. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  135 

In  January  of  1742,  Biittner,  by  appointment  of  Count 
Zinzendorf,  who  had  meanwhile  arrived  in  Pennsylvania, 
visited  Shckomeko,  where  the  missionary  Ranch  had  been 
laboring  for  more  than  a  year  among  the  Indians,  with  very 
great  success.  Biittner  remained  ten  days,  and  was  asto- 
nished at  the  effect  of  Divine  grace  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
wild  Indians.  On  January  14th,  he  preached  his  first  ser- 
mon at  this  place,  upon  the  text  (Col.  i.  13),  "He  hath 
delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness." 

The  object  of  this,  his  first  visit  to  Shekomeko  was  to 
invite  and  accompany  Ranch  to  the  Synod  of  the  Church, 
which  was  held  that  year  at  Oley,  Pennsylvania.  They 
took  with  them  three  Indian  converts,  who  were  baptized 
at  Oley,  and  received  the  names  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob.  The  interesting  ceremony  of  the  baptism  of  these 
first  fruits  from  among  the  Mohicans  was  performed  by 
Ranch,  at  the  close  of  the  sessions  of  the  Synod,  after  he 
and  Biittner  had  been  solemnly  ordained  to  the  Christian 
ministry  by  Bishops  Nitschman  and  Zinzendorf. 

Before  finally  leaving  Bethlehem  for  his  next  field  of 
labor,  he  was  married  by  Count  Zinzendorf,  on  Sept.  14, 
1742,  to  Margaretta,  third  daughter  of  John  Bechtel,  of 
Germantown.  Soon  after,  he  set  out  with  his  wife,  on 
horseback,  for  Shekomeko.  On  their  route,  they  passed 
through  Dansbury  (now  Stroudsburgh),  Monroe  County, 
Penna.,  thence  along  the  west  banks  of  the  Delaware  and 
Hudson,  and  crossed  the  latter  at  Rhinebeck,  which  was 
a  rendezvous  of  the  Brethren,  and  where  several  families 
belonging  to  the  faith  resided.  At  Shekomeko,  they  were 
received  with  great  cordiality  by  Ranch  and  his  Indian 
converts.  Both  missionaries  now  preached  with  zeal,  in 
English  and  Dutch,  while  two  of  the  converted  Indians, 
John  and  Jonathan,  interpreted  their  discourses  to  the 
assembled  congregation,  with  great  power  and  eft"ect.     The 


136  MORAVIANS  IX   NEW  YORK 

Indians  from  the  neighboring  towns  began  to  flock  to 
Shekomeko,  and  were  so  eager  for  the  word  of  God  that  it 
ahnost  seemed  as  if  they  could  not  be  satisfied. 

But  before  we  proceed  in  our  narrative  of  Biittner's 
labors,  it  seems  requisite  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  work 
which  had  been  accomplished  by  Christian  Henry  Ranch 
at  this  place,  previous  to  his  arrival.  Ranch  had  landed  in 
New  York  in  July,  1740,  and  immediately  made  inquiries 
concerning  the  neighboring  Indian  tribes.  His  intentions 
of  bringing  the  Gospel  to  the  red  men  of  the  forest  seemed 
a  fruitless  and  thankless  enterprise  to  such  Christian  friends 
in  New  York  as  he  became  acquainted  with,  and  whom  he 
consulted.  As,  however,  he  was  informed  that  a  deputa- 
tion of  Mohicans  was  at  that  time  in  the  city,  he  at  once 
went  in  search  of  them.  He  found  them  so  intoxicated, 
and  so  wild  and  uncouth  in  appearance,  that  he  must  have 
received  but  little  encouragement  for  his  enterprise.  But 
he  remembered  that  it  was  for  such,  just  such  poor  and 
wretched  sinners  that  he  had  left  his  home,  and  traversed 
the  ocean.  He  had  several  interviews  with  them,  and  on 
one  occasion,  when  not  intoxicated,  with  great  gravity,  they 
gave  him  a  formal  call  to  become  their  minister. 

The  Indians  left  New  York  before  him,  but  he  soon  fol- 
lowed, and  arrived  safely  at  their  village  of  Shekomeko, 
near  the  Stissick  Mountains,  on  the  confines  of  the  province 
of  Connecticut.  He  at  once  stated  his  object  in  coming  to 
reside  among  them,  namely :  That,  "  constrained  by  love, 
he  had  come  to  tell  them  the  God,  their  great  Creator,  had, 
out  of  love  for  them,  become  man,  lived  some  thirty  years 
on  earth,  had  done  much  good,  and  had  finally  allowed  him- 
self to  be  nailed  to  a  cross,  on  which  he  had  shed  his  blood 
and  died,  that  men  might  be  saved  from  their  sins  through 
his  merits,  and  become  the  heirs  of  everlasting  life ;  that 
soon  after,  he  had  arisen  from  the  dead  and  ascended  to 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  137 

heaven,  where  he  sitteth  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  yet 
is  with  his  children  always,  though  they  see  him  not,  and 
seeks  to  do  them  good,"  etc.  Though  the  Indians  listened 
with  great  attention,  this  message  soon  became  ridiculous 
in  their  eyes,  and  they  only  made  sport  of  him.  Among 
them  there  was  one  named  Tschoop,  who  was  notorious  for 
his  drunkenness  and  kindred  vices.  Him  God's  spirit  first 
arrested,  and  he  was  savingly  converted  unto  Christ.  Others 
soon  followed,  who  were  all  baptized  and  added  to  the 
Christian  church.  A  very  extraordinary  awakening  w^as 
the  result,  in  the  midst  of  wdiich  Biittner  arrived.  He  im- 
mediately, with  his  whole  heart,  entered  into  the  work,  and 
the  glorious  fruit  of  God's  Spirit  became  abundant. 

AYe,  of  this  generation,  read  with  astonishment  the 
accounts  of  this  and  similar  great  awakenings  among  the 
Indians  a  century  ago.  There  never  was  a  savage  people 
who  could  be  more  readily  reached  by  the  Gospel,  and  we 
believe  that,  if  this  great  work  had  been  permitted  to  pro- 
gress without  interruption,  and  had  been  carried  further  by 
the  missionaries  with  the  same  zeal  and  diligence  with 
which  it  was  begun,  the  North  American  Indian  tribes 
might  now  constitute  a  great  and  powerful  nation,  adorned 
with  all  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  and  forming  an  important 
portion  of  the  free  and  enlightened  citizens  of  our  great 
American  confederacy.  The  Indians  are  said  to  be  unfit 
for  civilized  life  ;  they  may  be,  but  their  civilized  neighbors 
have  made  them  so.  Their  present  gloomy  prospects  are 
not  so  much  a  result  of  their  own  stubborn  vices  as  of  the 
supreme  selfishness  of  the  whites.  The  Indians  have  given 
many  examples  of  true  greatness,  even  when  misdirected ; 
they  have  produced  such  warriors  as  Philip  and  Tecumseh, 
whose  daring  deeds  rival  the  military  prowess  of  America's 
most  gifted  generals,  and  such  Christians  as  Tschoop,  of 
whom  Bishop  Spangenberg  said,  that  in  his  mien  was  the 


138  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

majesty  of  a  Luther;  a  man  whose  mind  grasped,  as  by 
intuition,  the  glorious  mysteries  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
and  whose  strength  of  will,  inspired  and  sanctified  by  Chris- 
tianity, at  once  triumphed  over  the  vilest  passions  and  most 
hideous  vices  by  which  the  human  heart  can  be  deformed. 

But  to  return  to  Biittner.  He  and  his  wife  both  taught 
the  Indians,  the  language  employed  by  them  for  this  pur- 
pose being  the  Dutch.  As  soon  as  he  had  fully  entered 
upon  his  work,  he  became  the  leading  spirit  among  the  mis- 
sionaries. He  seems  to  have  been  remarkably  well  qualified 
for  the  arduous  work  to  which  the  Lord  had  appointed  him. 
His  superiority  gave  no  offence,  as  he  at  once  won  all  hearts 
by  his  kindness  and  the  warmth  of  his  Christian  affection. 
He  was  greatly  beloved  by  Zinzendorf,  the  missionaries 
generally,  and,  perhaps,  more  than  all  by  the  Indians  them- 
selves. 

But,  though  the  Lord  blessed  his  and  his  brethren's 
labors,  some  of  their  white  neighbors,  nominally  Christian, 
opposed  and  thwarted  them  by  every  means  within  their 
powder.  If  we  read  with  astonishment  of  the  results  of  the 
Gospel  upon  the  Indians,  we  read  with  no  less  astonish- 
ment of  the  frantic  and  iniquitous  opposition  of  the  whites 
to  this  great  Gospel  work.  This  portion  of  mission  history 
we  can  only  account  for  by  the  known  selfishness  and  de- 
pravity of  human  nature.  The  whites  were  accustomed  to 
turn  the  vices  of  the  Indians  to  their  own  pecuniary  profit. 
When  the  introduction  of  Christianity  was  bidding  fair  to 
banish  these  vices,  the  occupation  of  many  of  the  surround- 
ing white  people  was  endangered.  Such  was  principally 
the  case  in  reference  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  by 
the  Indians.  Though  the  moral  reformation  of  the  Indians 
would  eventually  have  vastly  benefited  both  races,  the  ava- 
ricious and  unprincipled  whites  were  not  able  to  see  this. 
Their  eyes  were  holden  to  their  own  true  interests,  as  is 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  139 

always  the  case  when  men  give  way  to  evil  principles  and 
unrighteous  practices  for  purposes  of  gain.  The  ears  of  the 
people  were  filled,  by  their  artful  enemies,  with  erroneous 
and  absurd  reports  concerning  the  missionaries.  They 
were  accused  of  being  Jesuits  in  disguise,  who  were  pre- 
paring, in  case  of  a  war  with  the  French,  to  array  their 
Indian  followers  in  hostility  to  the  English.  The  people 
became  greatly  alarmed  ;  many  armed  themselves  ;  and  the 
farmers  in  the  country  fled  to  the  towns ;  the  civil  authori- 
ties were  urged  to  interfere ;  and,  although  the  officers  of 
the  law  were  fully  convinced  of  the  innocence  of  the  Breth- 
ren, still  they  deemed  it  prudent  to  institute  a  rigid  exami- 
nation into  their  conduct.  The  various  examinations  in 
Poughkeepsie  and  New  York,  and  elsewhere,  to  which  the 
Brethren  were  subjected,  annoyed  them  much,  and  greatly 
hindered  them  in  their  work.  Although  the  Christian 
Indians  remained  faithful  to  their  teachers,  other  Indians 
became  suspicious ;  and  the  work  of  evangelization  was 
rendered  more  and  more  difficult.  During  these  times  of 
trouble,  Biittner  seems  to  have  been  regarded  by  his  Breth- 
ren as  their  leader  and  counsellor.  The  missionaries,  whose 
number  had  been  increased  by  accessions  from  Europe,  re- 
mained faithfid  to  their  principles,  and  diligent  in  their 
work,  braving  the  vengeance  of  their  enemies  with  true 
Christian  fortitude.  They  returned  not  evil  for  evil,  and 
were  willing  to  conform  fully  to  the  laws  of  the  land  so  far 
as  these  did  not  come  in  conflict  with  their  duty  to  God  and 
his  children.  The  conscientious  scruples  which  the  Mora- 
vian Brethren  entertained  against  the  performance  of  mili- 
tary duty  and  the  taking  of  oaths  was  turned  to  an  evil 
account  by  their  enemies.  They  were  summoned  to  render 
military  service,  and,  when  on  examination,  were  called  on 
to  give  testimony  on  oath.  They  demurred ;  and  a  fresh 
occasion  for  false  accusation  against  them  was   obtained. 


140  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

Buttner  seems  to  have  been  so  much  respected  that,  on  an 
occasion  of  a  visit  of  the  justice  of  the  peace,  the  examina- 
tion of  the  missionaries  was  postponed,  because  he  was 
absent  at  Bethlehem.  After  various  attempts  to  implicate 
the  Brethren  in  unlawful  designs  had  utterly  failed,  the 
Governor  was  appealed  to,  and  the  Brethren  Buttner  and 
Senseman  from  Shekomeko,  and  Shaw  from  Bethlehem, 
were  summoned  to  appear  in  New  York.  They  had  several 
hearings ;  and  their  depositions  are  still  on  record.  The 
final  declaration  of  Buttner  is  remarkable  for  its  frankness, 
clearness,  humility,  and  yet  unalterable  decision.  We  give 
it,  although  in  an  imperfect  translation  from  the  German  of 
Loskiel : — 

"We  are  subject  to  God  and  the  powers  that  be,  which 
we  will  not  oppose ;  we  would  rather  suffer.  Besides,  our 
cause  is  the  cause  of  God,  who  is  Lord  over  all.  For  his 
sake  have  we  settled  among  the  Indians,  in  order  to  make 
them  acquainted  with  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Money, 
land,  and  other  property  has  not  been  our  object,  and  will 
never  be.  Our  Lord  has  helped  us  hitherto,  and  will  help 
us  in  the  future.  We  are  in  his  hand,  and  certainly  believe 
that  no  harm  will  befall  us,  except  by  His  permission.  From 
Him  we  have  learned  to  be  subject  to  the  powers  that  have 
the  rule  over  us,  not  from  policy,  but  for  conscience  sake. 
Hitherto,  we  have  led  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life,  in  all  god- 
liness and  honesty,  and  desire  to  do  so  hereafter.  But  we 
are  fully  determined  rather  to  suffer  affliction  than  to  act 
against  our  conscience,  and  therefore  beg  your  Excellency 
not  to  oblige  us  to  make  oath,  but  to  remember  that  we  are 
a  poor  people,  who  suffer  whatever  is  imposed,  but  who  are 
at  the  same  time  cared  for  by  God,  who  rules  over  all  men's 
consciences.  Besides,  we  beg  not  to  be  hindered  in  the 
blessed  work  of  saving  souls.    We  promise  your  Excellency 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  141 

all  due  respect  and  obedience,  which  we  are  willing  to  ren- 
der for  conscience  sake." 

After  being  detained  for  several  days,  the  missionaries 
were  ordered  to  leave  the  country.  The  Governor,  how- 
ever, commuted  this  sentence,  and  suffered  them  to  return 
to  Shekomeko,  charging  them  not  to  apply  their  religious 
principle  so  as  to  arouse  suspicion.  He  likewise  gave  them 
a  passport  by  which  they  might  be  able  to  avoid  all  annoy- 
ance on  the  way,  or  at  home. 

This  persecution  did.  not,  however,  end  here.  Biittner 
and  his  brethren  were  subsequently  summoned  to  Pough- 
keepsie.  He  was  prevented  by  sickness  from  attending; 
and  Ranch  and  Mack  went  without  him.  Here,  an  act  of 
the  Assembly  of  New  York,  which  was  directed  against 
them  personally,  and  by  which  they  were  banished  the 
province  if  they  were  not  willing  to  take  an  oath  of  alle- 
giance, was  read  to  them.  Allegiance  they  were  willing  to 
promise  at  once,  but  refused  the  oath.  They  were  tliere- 
fore  obliged  to  prepare  for  their  departure.  About  this 
time.  Bishop  Spangenberg  visited  Shekomeko,  which  com- 
forted and  encouraged  the  missionaries  and  their  Indian 
brethren  greatly. 

Jonathan  and  Jonas,  two  Indian  converts,  had  meanwhile 
departed  from  the  Lord,  and  became  separated  from  the 
church.  Biittner  followed  them  with  tender  solicitude,  and 
actually  succeeded  in  restoring  them  to  the  Lord  and  his 
people.  But  this  was  the  last  service  which  he  rendered 
the  cause  of  his  divine  Lord  and  Master.  He  had  been 
suffering  for  a  long  time  of  a  pulmonary  complaint,  and 
was  subject  to  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  which  became  more 
frequent  in  consequence  of  the  arduous  journeys  he  had  been 
obliged  to  make  when  attending  the  examination,  instituted 
by  the  Government,  into  the  affairs  of  the  mission.  His 
infirmities  rapidly  increased ;  and  he  and  his  brethren  soon 


142  MOIIAVIANS  IN  NEW   YORK 

became  convinced  that  he  was  fast  sinking  into  the  grave. 
The  Lord,  whom  he  ardently  loved  and  devotedly  served, 
did  not  tarry  long,  but  soon  came  to  his  relief.  On  Feb- 
ruary 23d,  1745,  surrounded  by  his  brethren,  he  departed  in 
peace  and  joy.  Before  his  departure,  he  solemnly  addressed 
the  Indians  who  stood  weeping  around  his  dying  couch, 
and  besought  them,  with  all  the  energy  of  a  heart  fully 
realizing  the  great  salvation,  to  remain  faithful  to  the  Sa- 
viour unto  the  end.  Upon  his  request,  they  sang  hymns 
treating  of  the  death  of  the  righteous,  until,  during  the  sing- 
ing of  one  most  suitable  to  the  dying  moments  of  the  Chris- 
tian warrior,  he  sank  peacefully  to  rest.  That  scene  may 
not  be  described.  Those  weather-beaten,  bronzed  faces 
that  looked  upon  his  closing  eyes  and  lovely  countenance, 
beaming  with  joy,  as  it  settled  into  the  repose  of  the  last 
long  slumber,  death,  indicated  unutterable  tenderness  and 
true  Christian  affection.  Those  dark,  piercing  eyes,  which, 
in  the  former  times  of  their  savage  resentment,  flashed  like 
angry  lightning,  were  now  filled  with  tears,  that  rolled  in 
torrents  adown  their  swarthy  cheeks.  Their  uncontrollable 
emotions  testified  that  they  felt  they  had  lost  a  friend  sent 
them  by  God,  and,  in  the  first  burst  of  grief,  they  may  well 
have  imagined  that  they  had  almost  been  left  alone  on  earth. 
They  wept  over  the  remains  of  their  glorified  teacher  like 
orphaned  children  over  an  affectionate  mother.  With  holy 
awe  and  reverence,  they  prepared  his  body  for  the  tomb, 
clothed  it  in  white,  and  with  tears  bore  it  to  this  conse- 
crated spot,  where  they  consigned  it  to  the  tomb.  Here 
they  often  met,  recounted  his  self-denying  labors,  and  re- 
peated his  words  of  heavenly  wisdom.  On  his  tombstone 
which  his  brethren  placed  over  his  grave,  and  which  is  still 
extant,  is  the  inscription  printed  on  the  57th  page  of  this 
work. 

For  more  than   a  century  have  his  remains  here  lain 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  143 

mouldering  in  the  tomh,  awaiting  the  trumpet  sound  of  the 
angel  who  will  announce  the  great  resurrection.  His 
brethren  have  well-nigh  forgotten  his  place  of  sepulture, 
and  we  owe  it  principally  to  my  excellent  friend  who  pre- 
ceded me  that  his  last  resting-place  on  earth  has  been  dis- 
covered. Were  his  glorified  spirit  now  permitted  to  revisit 
the  consecrated  scenes  of  his  noble  life  and  martyr-death, 
his  humility  would  scarcely  permit  him  to  approve  of  the 
solemnities  of  this  day,  nor  would  he  ask  for  any  other 
monument  but  that  which  was  afforded  by  God's  record  on 
high.  Our  gratitude  and  affection  have,  however,  brought 
us  together  for  the  purpose  of  dedicating  this  monument, 
not  because  we  believe  we  may  add  to  his  deserved  fame, 
but,  rather,  that  the  remembrance  of  his  Christian  faithful- 
ness and  fortitude  may  animate  us  and  our  children  to  go 
and  do  likewise. 

These  brief  reminiscences  of  this  heroic  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ  constitute  the  best  eulogium  that  can  be  pronounced 
over  his  grave.  We  will  add  but  a  few  words.  BLittner 
was  evidently  a  man  in  earnest.  He  had  fully,  for  life,  em- 
barked in  the  great  Christian  warfare.  He  could  not  be 
drawn  from  his  purpose.  He  possessed  a  clear  mind  and 
strong  spirit,  which  were  never  for  a  moment  disarmed  by 
the  pressure  of  hostility  or  the  enervation  of  bodily  infirmity. 
Love  for  God  and  man  was  his  most  striking  characteristic, 
and  this  gave  him  his  power  to  influence  and  subdue.  He 
was  one  of  the  humblest  of  men,  but  in  his  humility  there 
were  power  and  grandeur.  In  his  speech  before  the  Go- 
vernor, in  New  York,  he  appeared  as  an  humble  suppliant 
for  permission  to  remain  among  his  dear  Indians,  but  cou- 
pled with  his  humility,  there  was  the  commanding  majesty 
and  authority  of  the  ambassador  of  the  King  of  kings.  He 
was  brave,  because  he  knew  that  He  that  was  for  him  was 
greater  than  he  that  was  against  him.    He  led  in  the  coun- 


144:  MOKAVIANS   IN   NEW   YORK 

sel  of  his  brethren,  because  he  enjoyed  their  full  confidence. 
He  died  as  he  lived,  in  the  strength  and  love  of  God  his 
Saviour,  and  was  mourned  over  by  simple  hearts,  as  few 
great  or  even  good  men  have  been  mourned  for. 

We  stand  on  holy  ground.  We  commemorate,  on  this 
day,  the  virtues  of  a  noble  ancestry.  We  are  carried  back, 
in  spirit,  to  the  scenes  of  their  triumphs  of  which  these 
pleasant  valleys  were  witness  more  than  a  century  ago. 
The  hills  which  echoed  back  those  venerable  songs  of  Zion 
which  Indian  voices  then  made  resound,  have  again,  on  this 
day,  been  moved,  and  their  memories  of  ancient  days  recalled 
by  the  old,  familiar  Moravian  melodies,  and  though  our 
Christian  brethren  of  other  churches  may  now  be  called  to 
labor  among  a  civilized  race,  where  our  fathers  toiled  for 
the  conversion  of  the  wild  Mohican,  it  still  affords  us  and 
them  intense  gratification  here  to  meet  to  day,  to  perform 
an  holy  act  of  reverence  and  affection,  in  memory  of  a  noble 
man,  an  eminent  Christian,  and  a  most  successful  ambas- 
sador of  Christ  to  sinful  men. 

The  following  stanza  was  next  sung,  according  to  Old 
Hundred : — 

"Amen,  thou  Sovereign  God  of  Love, 
Oh,  grant  that,  when  we  hence  remove. 
Our  souls,  redeemed  with  thy  blood, 
May  find  in  Thee  their  sure  abode." 

And  the  trombonists  having  performed,  as  follows,  one  of 
the  favorite  chorals  at  burials,  the  assembly  dispersed. 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


145 


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On  Thursday  morning,  at  half-past  eight,  the  Committee, 
attended  by  numerous  friends,  set  out  from  Pine  Plains  for 
Northeast  Centre.  During  the  night,  the  wind  had  shifted 
to  the  north,  and  it  blew  almost  a  gale  as  the  carriages 
defiled  in  procession  under  the  stately  buttonwood  that 
shelters  the  hospitable  farm-house  of  Mr.  Samuel  Deuel. 
The  road  led  over  a  highly  picturesque  country,  in  part 
the  same  that  had  been  travelled  on  the  first  day  from  the 
Millerton  Station  to  Shekomeko.  At  ten  o'clock,  the  party 
reached  Mr.  Douglas  Clarke's,  on  whose  lands  is  the  site 
of  the  Wechquadnach  Mission. 

Having  here  partaken  of  a  cold  collation,  the  procession 
formed  in  the  same  order  as  on  the  previous  day,  and  led  by 


146 


MOEAVIAXS  IN   NEW  YORK 


the  trombonists,  who  performed  the  following  choral,  moved 
to  the  grave  of  Joseph  Powell.  Mr.  Clarke,  a  venerable 
man  of  eighty,  -with  staff  in  hand,  led  the  way.  The  grave 
is  marked  by  the  original  headstone,  that  has  been  firmly 
set  into  a  protruding  ledge  near  by.  Around  this  the  com- 
pany gathered,  and  joined  in  the  service  of  the  "First 
Litany  for  Burials,"  from  the  Moravian  collection,  read  by 
the  Rev.  Sylvester  Wolle. 


I     r    L. 


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AND   CONNECTICUT.  147 


FIRST  LITANY  AT  BURIALS. 

Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Christ,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 

Christ,  hear  us. 

Lord  God,  our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven, 

Halloived  be  thy  name  ;  thy  kingdom  come  ;  thy  ivill  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is 
in  heaven;  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  ;  and  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as 
we  forgive  them  that  trespass  against  us  ;  and  lead  %is  not  into  temptation,  but 
deliver  us  from  evil ;  for  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory, 
for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

Lord  God,  Son,  thou  Saviour  of  the  world, 
Be  gracious  unto  us. 

By  thy  human  birth. 

By  thy  prayers  and  tears. 

By  all  the  troubles  of  thy  life. 

By  the  grief  and  anguish  of  thy  soul, 

By  thine  agony  and  bloody  sweat. 

By  thy  bonds  and  scourgings, 

By  thy  crown  of  thorns, 

By  thine  ignominious  crucifixion, 

By  thy  sacred  wounds  and  precious  blood. 

By  thy  atoning  death, 

By  thy  rest  in  the  grave. 

By  thy  glorious  resurrection  and  ascension. 

By  thy  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 

By  thy  divine  presence. 

By  thy  coming  again  to  the  church  on  earth,  or  our  being  called  home  to  thee, 

Bless  and  comfort  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God. 

Lord  God,  Holy  Ghost, 

Abide  with  us  forever. 

I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  saith  the  Lord ;  he  that  believeth  in  me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live.  And  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in 
me  shall  never  die. 

Therefore,  blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  ;  yea, 
saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors. 

0  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  0  grave,  where  is  thy  victory?  The  sting  of 
death  is  sin;  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law;  but  thanks  be  to  God,  which 
giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


148 


MORAVIANS   IN  NEW  YORK 


Tune  14     A. 


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Now      to        the      earth    let  these  re  -  mains    In        hope     com    -    mitted 

6  6  „  „ 

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be,     un  -  til    the      bod  -  y        chang'd    at    -    tiins  To     im  -  mor  -   tal  -    i    -    ty. 


be,     un  -  til    the      bod  -  y        chang'd    at 

tt       5^  it  6     5       a  6 


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£:?: 


We  poor  sinners  pray, 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God ; 

And  keep  us  in  everlasting  fellowship  with  the  church  triumphant,  and  let  us 
rest  together  in  thy  presence  from  our  labors.     Amen. 

None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself;  for  whether  we  live, 
we  live  unto  the  Lord,  and  whether  we  die,  we  die  unto  the  Lord :  whether  we 
live,  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's :  for  to  this  end  Christ  both  died,  and 
rose,  and  revived,  that  he  might  be  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  living. 

Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection :  on  such  the 
second  death  hath  no  power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ. 

Glory  be  to  Him  who  is  the  Kesurrection  and  the  Life,  who  quickeneth  us, 
while  in  this  dying  state,  and  after  we  have  obtained  the  true  life,  doth  not  suffer 
us  to  die  any  more. 

Glory  be  to  Him  in  the  church  which  waiteth  for  Him,  and  in  that  which  is 
around  Him,  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen. 


AND   CONNECTICUT. 


119 


Tune  22.    A. 


The       Sa  -  viour's  blood    aud       righteous  -  ness      My      beau  -  ty         is,       my 

J 


W^^^ 


£^ 


The  grace  of  our  liord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  be  with  us  all.     Amcu. 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  brief  ceremony,  the  party  set 
out  for  the  grave  of  David  Bruce,  on  the  east  side  of 
"  Indian  Pond,"  in  the  town  of  Sharon,  Conn.  It  was 
deemed  unsafe  to  cross  the  water  in  boats.  Some  of  the 
number  followed  the  footpath  along  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tain ;  others,  driving,  took  the  road  that  leads  around  the 
riffht  shore  to  the  outlet,  and  to  the  farm-house  of  Mr. 
Andrew  Lake.  Here  the  procession  formed  as  on  the 
previous  occasions,  and,  amid  the  music  of  trombones, 
moved  to  the  Wechquadnach  burial  ground,  and  to  the 
monument  that  bears  the  name  of  those  who,  a  century 
11 


150  MORAVIANS   IX   NEW   YORK 

ago,  labored  in  this  vicinity  among  Indians  and  whites.  On 
a  rocky  ledge  overlooking  the  beautiful  sheet  of  water  called 
by  the  early  Brethren  "  Lake  of  Grace,"  stands  the  snow- 
white  memorial  of  two  of  their  colleagues.  The  site  is  not 
only  commanding,  but  peculiarly  appropriate,  as  the  pro- 
spect it  affords  embraces  the  entire  region  of  country  in 
which  the  Moravians  carried  on  their  missionary  work,  as 
far  south  as  the  hills  of  Pachgatgoch  to  Kent. 

On  approaching  the  meadow  in  which  the  ceremonies 
were  to  be  held,  there  were  indications  of  a  numerous 
gathering.  Along  the  Sharon  road,  carriage  was  seen  fol- 
lowing carriage,  and  already  the  lane  and  orchard  near  by 
were  full  of  vehicles.  Hundreds  of  human  beings  were 
collected  about  the  monument,  and  hundreds  seated  along 
the  ledges  and  sunny  slopes  with  which  the  rugged  spot  is 
diversified.  It  was  altogether  a  scene  of  varied  forms,  and 
coloring,  and  life,  that  bespoke  an  extraordinary  occasion, 
and  has  left  an  indelible  impression  on  the  minds  of  all  who 
witnessed  it.  The  wind  blew  fresh  from  the  north,  whirling 
the  withered  leaves  from  the  tree  tops,  and  roughening  the 
bosom  of  the  lake  with  white-crested  waves ;  and  so  bois- 
terous did  it  grow,  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  assemble 
immediately  about  the  monument.  A  southerly  slope  near 
by  afforded  protection  from  the  elements,  and  here  the  wor- 
shippers gathered  to  recall  the  labors  of  the  dead,  and  to 
meditate  on  the  bliss  which  is  the  portion  of  those  who 
have  died  in  the  Lord.  Tier  on  tier  of  anxious  listeners 
were  seated  to  the  very  top  of  the  little  amphitheatre,  and 
among  these  were  swarthy  faces,  a  handful  of  survivors  of 
the  doomed  race  that  once  was  lo^'d  of  the  soil.  They  were 
Sharon  Indians,  who  had  come  to  hear  what  had  transpired 
when  their  forefathers  dwelt  along  the  borders  of  "  Indian 
Pond."  Half-way  down  the  acclivity  stood  the  speakers 
and  the  trombonists,  fronting  the  rest  of  the  seventeen 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  151 

hundred  spectators,  M'ho,  standing  below  in  a  compact 
crowd,  or  seated  in  wagons,  listened  with  deep  attention 
to  the  services  that  had  called  them  together.  The  Rev. 
Frederick  Sill,  of  New  York,  opened  the  exercises  in  the 
following  words : — 

MR.  SILL'S  ADDRESS. 

My  Christian  Brethren  and  friends :  It  is  with  no  ordi- 
nary feelings  that  I  now  rise  in  my  place  to  address  you 
on  this  most  interesting  occasion.  It  is  an  occasion  both 
rare  and  pleasing  in  itself  considered,  for  distinguished 
brethren  from  a  distance  have  come  into  this  historic  locality, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  shedding  bitter  tears  over  the  new- 
made  graves  of  those  who  had  recently  fallen ;  not  for  the 
purpose  of  lamenting  the  loss  of  beloved  objects  of  an 
affectionate  interest,  w^hose  places  could  not  be  filled,  and 
wdio  were  considered,  perhaps,  the  right  men  for  the  right 
place ;  but  they  have  come  for  the  purpose  of  reviving  pre- 
cious memories — to  call  to  recollection  and  to  pass  in  review 
the  labors,  the  zeal,  and  the  faith  exhibited  in  the  lives  of 
those  who,  like  the  Apostles  of  our  blessed  Lord,  counted 
not  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves,  so  that  they  might 
finish  their  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  they 
had  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God."  I  deem  it  a  high  privilege,  my  Christian 
brethren  and  friends,  to  participate  in  the  smallest  degree 
in  these  most  interesting  exercises ;  and  on  my  own  behalf, 
I  desire  to  thank  the  Moravian  Historical  Society,  and  the 
Shekomeko  Literary  Association,  for  the  same,  as  well  as 
for  the  courtesy  extended  to  the  church  in  which  I  minister 
by  the  grace  of  God. 

My  address,  however,  being  of  an  introductory  character, 
it  will  not  be  expected  that  I  present  in  detail  the  rise  and 
establishment  of  the  venerable  missionary  society  under 
whose  auspices  we  are  here  gathered;  nor  to  recount  the 


152  MORAVIANS   IN  NEW  YORK 

many  incidents  in  the  lives  of  those  who,  having  long  since 
finished  their  course  in  faith,  do  now  rest  from  their  labors. 

And  yet  there  may  be  embodied,  in  these  remarks,  some 
of  those  views  which  may  tend  to  impress  our  minds  with 
the  general  character  of  the  missionary  work ;  but  before 
proceeding  to  its  consideration,  it  may  be  well  to  observe, 
by  way  of  illustration,  that,  in  its  general  features,  it  has 
been  the  same  in  every  age,  viz :  one  of  toil,  exposure,  and 
privation,  with  alternate  expressions  of  hope  and  despond- 
ency, cheerfulness  and  gravity,  love  and  charity.  Nor  should 
the  missionary  work  in  our  country  be  viewed  in  some  of 
its  features  now,  as  it  appeared  rising  of  a  century  since ; 
for,  since  then,  the  whole  scene  has  changed.  At  that  time, 
instead  of  a  Christian  civilization,  resulting  from  missionary 
labor  with  the  help  of  God,  nought  was  perceived  but  a 
moral  desolation. 

Instead  of  comparative  safety  on  the  bosom  of  the  mighty 
deep  in  a  Great  Eastern,  with  its  immense  proportions, 
its  magnificent  saloons,  its  ample  provision,  and  its  stately 
machinery,  a  great  risk  and  exposure  were  consequent  on  a 
voyage,  costing  upwards  of  a  hundred  pounds,  while  not  a 
few  precious  lives  were  lost  to  the  world  and  the  church  in 
the  vain  attempt  to  reach  these  shores.  Now  there  is  some- 
thing in  the  great  work  of  Christ  and  the  Church  which 
impels  one  onward  in  its  accomplishment.  It  constrains 
men  to  act  for  the  good  of  souls,  to  consecrate  themselves, 
and  to  devote  their  time,  talents,  energies  and  means  to  the 
service  of  Jesus.  While  in  themselves  considered,  the 
ministers  of  Christ  are  frail  mortals,  and  subject,  of  course, 
to  the  infirmities  and  vicissitudes  of  a  common  humanity; 
yet  it  not  unfrequently  happens  that  the  means  made  use 
of  by  them  prove  mighty,  through  God,  to  the  pulling  down 
of  the  strongholds  of  sin,  Satan,  and  death,  and  in  restoring 
man  to  the  image  and  favor  of  his  Maker.     And  oh,  my 


AND  CONN-ECTICUT.  153 

Christian  brethren  and  friends,  what  pen  can  describe,  or 
what  eloquence  depict,  the  emotions  of  the  heart  of  a  faith- 
ful missionary,  as  he  perceives  the  light  moving  in  upon  a 
dark  and  illiterate  mind,  in  process  of  renovation,  and  listens 
to  expressions  of  penitence  for  sin,  and  faith  or  belief  in 
Christ  Jesus,  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

Oh,  there  is  something,  and  I  speak  both  from  experience 
and  observation  on  this  subject,  which  amply  repays  the 
ardent  and  devoted  missionary,  as  the  mist  and  darkness 
attendant  upon  sin  gradually  disappear,  and  the  bright 
beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  are  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  renovated  mind,  infusing  joy  and  life  divine.  Well  is 
it,  then,  that  we  have  gathered  with  fond  and  loving  hearts 
to  commemorate  the  faith  and  the  deeds  of  the  faithful 
departed,  to  recount  their  labors,  and  to  excite  in  each  other 
a  spirit  of  gratitude  and  praise,  not  only  for  the  goodly 
heritage  we  enjoy  as  the  result  of  the  labors  and  sufferings 
of  our  fathers,  but  to  separate  with  the  firm  resolve  that, 
"  Neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities  and 
powers,  nor  things  present  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height, 
nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  ever  be  able  to 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord." 

Again  thanking  my  respected  brethren  for  the  honor  con- 
ferred upon  me,  and  not  wishing  to  detain  you  longer  from 
listening  to  a  more  special  and  particular  detail  of  the 
ministry  and  death  of  the  eminent  missionary  whose  sacred 
ashes  you  now  carefully  protect  in  your  midst,  I  hasten  to 
give  way  to  my  reverened  brother,  who  will  now  address 
you  on  these  points,  with  the  earnest  hope  that  these  inte- 
resting reminiscences  will  lead  us  in  our  turn  to  be  active, 
zealous,  and  self-denying  in  the  cause  of  Jesus,  and  to  do 
all  that  lies  in  our  power  for  the  advancement  of  His  glory, 
the  good  of  His  church,  and  the  welfare  of  His  people. 


154  MOKAVIANS   IN  NEW  YORK 

Bishop  Wolle  next  read  the 

EASTER  MORNING  LITANY. 

I  believe  in  the  One  only  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  who  created  all 
things  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself. 

I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  chosen  us  in 
him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world ; 

Who  hath  delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  hath  translated  us 
into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son ; 

Who  hath  blessed  us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ ; 

Who  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light :  having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to 
himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of 
his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made  us  accepted  in  the  Beloved. 
This  I  verily  believe. 

We  thank  thee,  0  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid 
these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes : 
even  so,  Father ;  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight. 

Father,  glorify  thy  name. 

Our  Father  luhich  art  in  heaven,  hallotoed  he  thy  name  ;  thy  "kingdom  come  ; 
thy  loill  he  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven;  give  us  this  day  our  daily  hread; 
and  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  them  that  trespass  against  us;  and 
lead  us  not  into  temptation,  hut  deliver  us  from  evil :  for  thine  is  the  kingdom, 
and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever :  Amen. 

I  believe  in  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  by  whom  are  all  things, 
and  we  through  him ; 

I  believe,  that  he  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelled  among  us ;  and  took  on  him 
the  form  of  a  servant ; 

By  the  overshadowing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  conceived  of  the  Yii'gin  Mary ; 
as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took 
part  of  the  same  ;  was  born  of  a  woman  ; 

And  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are, 
yet  without  sin : 

For  he  is  the  Lord,  the  Messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  we  delight  in.  The 
Lord  and  his  Spirit  hath  sent  him  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord : 

He  spoke  that  which  he  did  know,  and  testified  that  which  he  had  seen :  as 
many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God. 

Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 

Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried ; 

The  third  day  rose  again  from  the  dead,  and  with  him  many  bodies  of  the 
saints  which  slept ; 

Ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  throne  of  the  Father ;  whence  he 
will  come,  in  like  manner  as  he  was  seen  going  into  heaven. 

T.  58.  p.  2.     Amen,  come,  Lord  Jesus  ;  come  we  implore  thee  : 
With  longing  hearts  we  now  are  waiting  for  thee  : 
Come  soon,  0  come. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  155 

The  Lord  will  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  arch- 
angel, and  with  the  trump  of  God,  to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the  dead. 

This  is  my  Lord,  who  redeemed  me,  a  lost  and  undone  human  creature,  pur- 
chased and  gained  me  from  sin,  from  death,  and  from  the  power  of  the  devil; 

Not  witli  gold  or  silver,  but  with  his  holy  precious  blood,  and  with  his  inno- 
cent suffering  and  dying ; 

To  the  end  that  I  should  be  his  own,  and  in  his  kingdom  live  under  him  and 
serve  him,  in  eternal  righteousness,  innocence,  and  happiness  ; 

So  as  he,  being  risen  from  the  dead,  liveth  and  reigneth,  world  without  end. 
This  I  most  certainly  believe. 

I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  procecdeth  from  the  Father,  and  whom  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  sent,  after  he  went  away,  that  he  should  abide  with  us  for 
ever; 

That  he  should  comfort  us,  as  a  mother  comforteth  her  children ; 

That  he  should  help  our  iufirmitics,  and  make  intercession  for  us  with  groan- 
ings  which  cannot  be  uttered ; 

That  he  should  bear  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God, 
and  teach  us  to  cry,  Abba,  Father ; 

That  he  should  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  the  love  of  God,  and  make  our 
bodies  his  holy  temple  ; 

And  that  he  should  work  all  in  all,  dividing  to  every  man  severally  as  he  will. 

To  him  be  glory  in  the  church,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  holy  universal 
Christian  church,  in  the  communion  of  saints,  at  all  times,  and  from  eternity  to 
eternity.     Amen. 

I  believe,  that  by  my  own  reason  and  sti'ength,  I  cannot  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ  my  Lord,  or  come  to  him  ; 

But  that  the  Holy  Ghost  calleth  me  by  the  gospel,  eulighteneth  me  with  his 
gifts,  sanctifieth  and  preserveth  me  in  the  true  faith ; 

Even  as  he  calleth,  gathereth,  enlighteneth,  and  sanctifieth  the  whole  church 
on  earth,  which  he  keepeth  by  Jesus  Christ  in  the  only  true  faith; 

In  which  Christian  church,  God  forgiveth  me  and  every  believer  all  sin  daily 
and  abundantly. 

This  I  assuredly  helieve. 

I  believe,  that  hj  holy  baptism  I  am  embodied  as  a  member  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  which  he  hath  loved,  and  for  which  he  gave  himself,  that  he  might  sanc- 
tify and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word.     Arnvn. 

In  this  communion  of  saints  my  faith  is  placed  upon  my  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  us,  and  shed  his  blood  on  the  cross  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  and  who  hath  granted  unto  me  his  body  and  blood  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
as  a  pledge  of  grace ;  as  the  Scripture  saith,  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  same 
night  in  which  he  was  betrayed,  took  bread :  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he 
brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  and  said.  Take,  eat :  this  is  my  liody  which 
is  given  for  you ;  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also, 
our  Lord  Jesus  Clirist,  when  he  had  supped,  took  the  cup,  gave  thanks,  aiid 


156 


MORAVIAXS  IN  NEW  YORK 


gave  it  to  them,  saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  this  is  my  blood,  the  blood  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you,  and  for  many,  for  the  remission  of  sins. 
This  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.     Amen. 

I  have  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better;  I  shall 
never  taste  death ;  yea,  I  shall  attain  imto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  :  for  the 
body  which  I  shall  put  off,  this  grain  of  corruptibility,  shall  put  on  incorruption  : 
my  flesh  shall  rest  in  hope. 

And  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that 
great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant, 
shall  also  quicken  these  our  mortal  bodies,  if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  hath 
dwelled  in  them.     Amen. 

We  poo7'  sinners  pray, 

Hear  us,  gracious  Lord  and  God  ; 

And  keep  us  in  everlasting  fellowship  with  our  brethren,  and  with  our  sisters, 
who  have  entered  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord  ; 

Also  with  the  servants  and  handmaids  of  our  church,  whom  thou  hast  called 
home  in  the  past  year,  and  with  the  whole  church  triumphant ;  and  let  us  rest 
together  in  thy  presence  from  our  labors.     Amen. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  157 

Glory  be  to  Him  who  is  the  Kosnrrcctinn  and  the  Life ;  He  was  dearl,  and 
behohl,  He  is  alive  for  evermore ;  And  he  that  believeth  in  Him,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live. 

Glory  be  to  Him  in  the  church  which  waiteth  for  Him,  and  in  that  which  is 
around  Him ;  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen. 

T.  151.  p.  2.     Grant  us  to  lenn  unshaken 
Upon  thy  faithfulness, 
Until  we  hence  are  taken 
To  see  thee  face  to  face. 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  us  all.     Amen. 

The  Rev.  Edmund  de  Schweinitz  now  addressed  the 
audience  as  follows : — 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  DE  SCHWEINITZ. 

We  stand  on  ground  over  which  roamed,  a  century  and 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  the  Wampanoag  and  Mohican 
Indians  of  Wechquadnach  and  Pachgatgoch,  remnants  of 
once  powerful  tribes  that  had  seen  their  day,  and  were  fall- 
ing at  the  white  man's  approach,  like  the  leaves  of  their 
native  forests  before  the  autumnal  wind ;  on  ground  where 
servants  of  the  Most  High  God  met  this  withered  race, 
called  its  warriors  brothers,  told  them  that  the  Great 
Spirit  above  was  man's  common  Father  in  heaven,  and 
pointed  out  the  way  leading  thither,  which  way  is  Christ. 
Pilgrims  yesterday  to  the  tomb  of  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished of  these  heralds  of  the  Gospel,  we  gather  now  around 
this  second  monument,  which  commemorates  the  fact  that 
in  this  region  another  friend  and  teacher  of  the  Indians 
finished  his  course  and  work  ;  and  that  after  him,  when  the 
red  man  had  passed  away,  an  evangelist  of  the  same  house- 
hold of  faith  here  told  to  the  white  settlers  the  story  of 
redeeming  love,  until  he  too  was  gathered  to  his  fathers. 

I  think  I  may  emphatically  declare  that  we  are  come  not 
in  order  to  honor  men,  and  glorify  meek  Moravian  mission- 
aries, whose  habit  of  tliought  and  humility  of  character 


158  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

would  have  been  startled  at  the  bare  idea  of  such  a  thing ; 
but  in  order  to  exalt  a  principle  which  in  its  origin  is  God- 
begotten,  in  its  manifestation  coeval  with  the  glorious  Gos- 
pel, and  in  its  operations  essential  to  the  happiness  of  the 
human  family  and  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  Not  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  therefore,  when  they 
builded  the  tombs  of  the  prophets,  and  garnished  the  sepul- 
chres of  the  righteous,  have  we  set  up  this  monumental 
stone,  and  are  we  assembled  here  about  it ;  but  rather  in 
the  spirit  of  the  early  Christians,  who  were  wont  to  meet 
at  the  places  where  the  confessors  and  martyrs  slept,  and 
magnify,  in  sacred  song,  and  by  narratives  of  what  these 
had  endured  and  accomplished,  the  name  of  the  Lord,  be- 
cause He  had  given  to  the  church  such  champions  of  faith, 
and  to  the  world  such  noble  ensamples,  of  whom  it  was  not 
worthy. 

In  this  spirit,  then,  now  that  our  songs  and  hymns  are 
risen  to  the  praise  of  God,  let  me  proceed  to  give  you  an 
account  of  the  faith  and  labors  of  the  two  missionaries  who 
are  buried  here,  and  on  the  other  side  of  this  lake.  Having 
done  this,  the  principle  which  we  wish  to  exalt  will  be 
abundantly  set  forth,  and  recognized  by  us  all. 

And  first,  by  way  of  introduction,  a  few  remarks  respect- 
ing the  establishment  of  the  former  mission  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. 

The  Moravian  Brethren  began  their  labors  at  Wechquad- 
nach  and  Pachgatgoch  in  1741,  simultaneously  with  those 
at  Shekomeko,  where  we  were  yesterday.  Two  years  later, 
a  regular  station  having  been  organized  at  this  latter  place, 
the  missionaries  Mack,  Senseman,  Pyrlaeus,  and  Post 
statedly  visited  the  Indians  of  Wechquadnach  and  Pach- 
gatgoch, until  the  enterprise  was  intrusted  to  Mack,  alone 
or  at  least  chiefly,  who  took  up  his  abode  in  the  wigwam  of 
the  Captain  of  Pachgatgoch.     In  the  same  year  (1743),  the 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  159 

first  converts,  six  in  number,  were  baptized  in  this  village. 
At  their  head  was  the  Captain  himself,  who  received  the 
name  of  Gideon.  The  others  were  Joshua  (his  son), 
Samuel,  Amos,  Maria,  and  Rachel,  who  subsequently  be- 
came the  Avife  of  the  missionary  Post.  This  baptism  took 
place  on  February  13th,  and  the  converts  were  all  of  the 
Wampanoag  nation.  Gideon  grew  in  grace  and  in  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  was  an  active  and  faithful  assistant  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  preached  the  Gospel  with  great  power  among 
his  people.  It  is  related  of  him,  by  the  historian  Loskiel, 
that  lie  was  one  day  attacked  by  a  savage  Indian,  Avho  pre- 
sented a  gun  to  his  head,  and  called  out :  "  Now  I  will 
shoot  you,  for  you  speak  of  nothing  but  Jesus !"  Gideon 
answered :  "  If  Jesus  does  not  permit  you,  you  cannot 
shoot  me" — which  answer  so  confounded  the  man  that  he 
dropped  his  gun,  and  went  home  in  silence.  Mack  con- 
tinued to  reside  at  Pachgatgoch,  in  a  bark  hut  which  he 
had  meanwhile  built  for  himself  and  wife.  The  same  his- 
torian whom  I  mentioned  a  moment  ago  tells  us  that,  while 
dwelling  in  this  habitation,  surrounded  as  it  was  on  all 
sides  by  hills  and  rocks,  Mack  often  called  to  mind  the  lines 
which  the  fathers  of  the  ancient  Brethren's  Church,  in 
Bohemia  and  Moravia,  loved  to  sing  when  thrust  from  their 
homes  and  sanctuaries  by  the  ruthless  hand  of  persecu- 
tion : — 

"  The  rugged  rocks,  the  dreary  wilderness, 
Mountains,  and  woods  are  our  appointed  place ; 
'Midst  storms  and  waves,  on  heathen  shores  unknown, 
We  have  our  temple,  and  serve  God  alone." 

While  the  work  at  Pachgatgoch  prospered  in  this  manner, 
that  at  Wechquadnach  did  not  remain  without  results. 
The  first  convert  of  this  village  who  received  baptism  (as  I 
fi.nd  recorded  in  an  old  catalogue  which  once  belonged  to 


160     .  MORAVIANS   IN  NEW  YORK 

the  well-known  missionary  John  Heckewelder)  was  Kau- 
paas,  named  Timothy  by  the  Brethren.  This  baptism  took 
place  at  Shekomeko,  August  4th,  1742.  The  second  con- 
vert was  Moses,  baptized  in  December  of  the  same  year. 
Two  years  later,  in  1744,  on  the  3d  of  June,  the  first  bap- 
tism occurred  in  the  village  itself,  Martha,  Gideon's  second 
wife,  being  the  recipient.  It  appears  that  Mack  and  the 
missionaries  from  Shekomeko  statedly  visited  Wechquad- 
nach.  When  the  mission-house  which  once  stood  on  the 
other  side  of  the  lake  was  built,  I  have  not  been  able  to 
discover.  It  bore  the  same  beautiful  name  which  the 
Brethren  gave  to  that  sheet  of  water,  namely  Gnadensee  ; 
that  is,  "  lake  of  grace." 

Such  was  the  auspicious  beginning  of  the  mission  among 
the  aborigines  of  this  region.  About  twenty  converts  from 
the  two  villages  were  baptized  up  to  the  spring  of  the  year 
1744.  But  then  an  unexpected  change  came  over  the 
labors  of  the  Brethren;  persecutions  broke  out  against 
them ;  they  were  calumniated  as  Papists  and  secret  friends 
of  the  French.  I  will  not  give  the  details  of  this  sad  season 
of  trial.  Suffice  it  to  say  that,  in  the  year  1745,  the  resi- 
dent missionaries  were  obliged  to  leave  the  province  of  New 
York ;  and  in  the  following  year  the  Indian  converts  began 
to  disperse.  Some  removed  to  Bethlehem  in  Pennsylvania ; 
others  joined  the  army;  while  those  who  remained  were 
as  sheep  scattered  abroad  without  a  shepherd.  It  is  true, 
the  Brethren  at  Bethlehem  sent  heralds  of  the  Gospel  to 
them  as  often  as  possible ;  and  Gideon,  Abraham  and  other 
native  assistants  continued  to  proclaim  the  Word  of  Life 
to  their  people ;  but  the  records  of  those  years  plainly  show 
that  the  work  of  grace  had  been  effectually  hindered,  and 
that,  among  the  baptized  converts,  more  than  one  became 
careless  of  his  Christian  character.  In  this  lamentable  state, 
the    Pachgatgoch   and  Wechquadnach  mission   continued 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  161 

until  1748.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  Bishop  John  de 
Watteville  and  his  wife — who  was  the  oldest  daughter  of 
Count  Zinzendorf,  and  six  years  before,  as  a  young  girl,  had 
wandered  with  her  father  through  the  wildernesses  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  York  to  visit  the  Indians — arrived  in 
America,  on  an  official  tour  to  the  churches  of  the  Breth- 
ren. One  of  the  first  works  w^hich  Watteville  undertook 
was  to  go  in  search  of  the  lost  sheep  at  the  former  mission 
stations  in  this  region.  In  the  month  of  December,  accom- 
panied by  Bishop  Cammerhof  and  Nathaniel  Seidel,  a  cler- 
gyman of  the  church,  he  reached  Wechquadnach  and  Pach- 
gatgoch,  where  most  of  the  Indians  were  found  either  in  the 
villages,  or  in  their  forest  hunting-huts.  With  apostolical 
zeal,  and  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,  these 
men  of  God  renewed  the  work  of  the  Gospel  here,  entreat- 
ing, warning,  counselling,  and  imparting  comfort,  as  the 
case  might  be,  until  a  blessed  revival  of  pure  and  undefiled 
religion  took  place  among  the  Indians.  Before  the  Breth- 
ren left,  they  had  the  great  satisfaction  of  baptizing  several 
new  converts.  This  was  the  occasion  for  the  recommence- 
ment of  the  Wechquadnach  and  Pachgatgoch  mission  ;  and 
here  is  the  place  to  introduce  into  my  narrative  the  first  of 
the  two  men  to  whose  memory  this  monument  has  been 
erected. 

David  Bruce^  was  born  at  Edinburgh,  in  Scotland,  in 
what  year  is  not  known.  At  the  close  of  1741,  he  came 
to  this  country,  in  company  of  Count  Zinzendorf  He  was 
originally  a  Scotch  Presbyterian.     How  or  when  he  became 

*  For  the  biographical  notices  of  Bruce  and  Powell,  the  speaker  was 
mainly  indebted  to  the  researches  of  his  friend,  Mr.  William  C.  Reichel,  of 
Bethlehem.  Other  historical  facts  respecting  the  mission  at  Wechquad- 
nach and  Pachgatgoch  are  derived  from  original  documents  in  the  archives 
of  the  Moravian  Churches  at  Philadelphia  and  Bethlehem.  Very  little  is 
found  in  the  publications  of  the  church  concerning  this  particular  mission. 


162  MORAVIANS  IN   NEW  YORK 

acquainted  with  the  Moravian  Brethren  does  not  appear ; 
but  that  he  had  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  work, 
'as  carried  on  by  them,  is  evident.  From  his  first  arrival 
on  these  shores,  he  seems  to  have  given  himself  up,  soul 
and  body,  to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  in  any  and  every 
capacity  in  which  the  Lord  might  see  fit  to  use  him.  The 
seven  and  a  half  years  of  his  life  in  America  were  the  years 
of  the  life  of  an  itinerant  evangelist.  He  was  ever  ready 
to  say :  "  Here  am  I,  send  me !"  In  the  interests  of  the 
Gospel,  like  many  other  of  the  Brethren  of  that  day,  he 
had  no  will  of  his  own.  God's  will  was  always  his.  Bruce's 
name  stands  enrolled  among  the  eighty  persons  who  formed 
the  first  regular  Brethren's  church  in  America.  This  church 
was  organized  by  Count  Zinzendorf,  at  Bethlehem,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  soon  became  the  principal  seat  of  the  Mora- 
vians in  this  country.  But  Bruce  did  not  belong  to  what 
was  called  "  The  Home  Congregation"  there.  He  was  one 
of  a  band  or  class  of  four  young  men  that  had  its  place 
among  "  the  Pilgrims,"  as  they  were  denominated ;  that  is, 
such  as  itinerated  in  the  country,  and  were  expected,  at  any 
moment,  to  go  forth  even  to  distant  regions,  if  souls  could 
there  be  saved.  In  the  same  year  in  which  the  church  at 
Bethlehem  was  organized,  the  Brethren  resolved  to  begin 
an  English  church  at  Nazareth,  ten  miles  to  the  north  of 
Bethlehem ;  and  Bruce  was  appointed  one  of  its  elders. 
Whether  he  ever  exercised  the  duties  of  this  ofiice,  I  do 
not  know.  Certain  it  is  that,  after  six  or  seven  weeks,  the 
plan  was  abandoned  again,  and  that  Bruce,  together  with 
his  wife  (Stephen  Benezet's  daughter,  of  Philadelphia, 
whom  he  had  married  a  few  months  before),  had  meanwhile 
accompanied  Count  Zinzendorf  on  his  first  visit  to  the 
Indian  country.  Returned  to  Bethlehem,  Bruce,  in  the 
months  of  October  and  November,  is  found  engaged  in  car- 
penter-work at  a  barn  belonging  to  the  church — so  an  old 


AND  CONNECTICUT.  163 

record  tells  us — performing  this  labor  also,  amidst  the  ne- 
cessities of  a  new  settlement,  to  the  glory  of  God,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  simple  faith  of  his  brethren.  Next,  in  the 
beginning  of  1743,  we  meet  with  him  at  Philadelphia.  The 
Brethren  had  established  a  church  there ;  and  the  former 
parsonage,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Kace  and  Bread 
Streets,  constituted  the  head-quarters  for  four  or  five,  some- 
times six,  itinerant  evangelists  and  their  families.  Bruce 
took  his  turn  regularly  in  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  city, 
and  at  a  number  of  stations  in  the  surrounding  country. 
His  name  frequently  occurs  in  the  books  of  my  church,  at 
Philadelphia,  until  the  end  of  the  year  1744;  after  that,  it 
disappears.  In  all  probability,  he  now  removed  to  Beth- 
lehem, and  continued  to  itinerate  from  that  place,  some- 
times among  the  Indians,  again  among  the  English  settlers 
at  Dansbury  (now  Stroudsburg),  and  in  other  parts  of 
eastern  Pennsylvania.  From  a  remark  made  by  Bishop 
Watteville  when  announcing  his  death  to  the  congregation 
at  Bethlehem,  I  infer  that  Bruce,  at  this  time,  was  par- 
ticulal'ly  active  in  sowing  the  good  seed  of  the  Word 
among  the  Delaware  Indians  of  Pennsylvania. 

Such,  then,  was  the  nature  of  his  labors,  until  the 
return  of  Watteville  and  his  company  from  the  forsaken 
stations  of  Wechquadnach  and  Pachgatgoch.  Then  a  new 
sphere  of  action  opened  to  Bruce,  in  which,  had  it  been 
God's  will  to  spare  his  life,  he  would  no  doubt  have  accom- 
plished great  results. 

A  synod  of  the  Moravian  Church  in  America  convened 
at  Bethlehem,  under  the  presidency  of  Bishop  de  Watteville, 
on  the  23d  of  January,  1749.  This  synod  resolved  to  reor- 
ganize the  missions  in  the  provinces  of  New  York  and 
Connecticut,  and  confirmed  the  appointment  which  Bruce 
had  previously  received  from  the  elders,  to  undertake  the 
work  at  Wechquadnach  and  Pachgatgoch.     On  the  3d  of 


164  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

February,  in  company  of  the  missionary  Post,  he  set  out 
for  these  stations.  Post  was  to  assist  in  the  reorganization, 
but  Bruce  to  remain  as  resident  missionary,  and  to  live  at 
Wechquadnach,  in  the  house  on  the  lake.  Such  was  the 
purport  of  their  commission.  Post  returned  to  Bethlehem 
on  the  28th  of  February,  and  reported  that  he  and  Bruce 
had  found  most  of  the  Indians  in  their  huts,  glad  to  receive 
their  new  teacher,  and  anxious  to  hear  from  him  the  words 
of  eternal  life,  and  that  Bruce  had  commenced  his  labors 
with  great  zeal.  At  the  same  time,  he  delivered  to  the 
elders  a  number  of  letters  written  by  Indian  converts,  in 
which  they  expressed  their  joy  at  the  arrival  of  Bruce.  I 
have  found  copies  of  these  letters  in  the  archives  of  my 
church,  at  Philadelphia,  and  have  brought  one  of  them 
with  me.  Shall  I  read  it,  my  friends  1  or  will  it  detain  you 
too  long"? 

(Many  voices:  "Pcadit!  read  it!") 

THE    LETTER. 

"Wechquadnach,  February  10,  1749. 
"We,  Abraham,^  Moses,^  and  Jacob,  and  all  the  brethren  and  sisters, 
salute  the  whole  Church,  and  are  very  glad  and  thankful  that  the  Church 
has  cared  for  us  again,  visited  us,  forgiven  us  all  that  has  hitherto  passed, 
and  sent  somebody  to  instruct  and  teach  us.  For  we  know  that  through 
this  forgiveness  many  of  us  have  been  helped  to  rights,  and  set  upon  our 

'  Abraham  was  one  of  tlie  first  three  converts  from  the  Indians,  a  Mohican,  bap- 
tized by  Christian  Ranch,  at  Oley,  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania,  February 
12th,  1742.  Jacob  was  another  of  these  three  converts,  baptized  at  the  same  place 
and  time.  He  belonged  to  the  Wampanoag  tribe,  and  died  at  Philadelphia,  of  the 
smallpox,  in  1764,  while  the  Christian  Indians  were  confined  there  in  the  barracks 
to  protect  them  from  the  Paxton  Boys.  He  was  buried  in  Potter's  Field,  where 
Washington  Square  now  is. 

2  Moses  was  the  second  convert  from  Wechquadnach,  a  Mohican,  baptized  De- 
cember 23d,  1742,  by  Martin  Mack. 

The  notices  in  these  foot-notes  respecting  the  Indians  mentioned  in  the  letter,  are 
all  derived  from  the  Catalogue  of  Baptisms,  referred  to  in  the  address,  and  kindly 
lent  the  speaker  by  Miss  Heckewelder,  of  Bethlehem,  daughter  of  the  celebrated 
missionary.     Miss  Heckewelder  was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  165 

feet  again.  Therefore  are  we  glad,  and  salute  the  brethren  and  sisters  at 
Bethlehem  ;  therefore  we  brethren  and  sisters  pray  that  onr  Saviour  may 
wash  us  in  his  blood,  and  make  us  obedient  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts; 
for  we  thought  we  should  never  more,  in  all  our  lives,  have  any  one  from 
the  Brethren's  church  among  us.  We  therefore  desire  our  brethren  and 
sisters  at  Bethlehem  to  pray  for  us.  We  will  also  pray  to  our  Saviour 
with  our  whole  hearts,  and  do  our  utmost  to  remain  steadfast  in  the  faith 
in  his  meritorious  death. 

"Joshua's*  grandmother  salutes  him  heartily,  and  is  very  glad  that  his 
sister'^  was  baptized  at  Bethlehem.  And  P  am  very  glad  that  the  mission- 
aries show  us  the  plain  and  straight  way  to  our  Saviour ;  and  I  salute 
Brother  Joseph*  and  mother  Spangenberg ;  and  we  brethren  and  sisters 
wish  that  where  the  Brethren  live  we  may  live  also;  for,  so  long  as  we  had 
no  teachers,  we  could  not  say  that  we  loved  the  Brethren;  but  now  we  feel 
that  we  love  them.  Sarah^  salutes  Brother  Joseph  and  Mother  Spangen- 
berg, Brother  Cammerhoff  and  Sister  Cammerhoff,  and  all  the  brethren  and 
sisters  at  Bethlehem,  Gnadeuhuetten,  Xazareth,  and  in  all  the  churches. 
Our  Sister  RacheP  does  the  like ;  our  Sister  Abigail"  the  like  ;  Bartholo- 
mew's" mother  the  like  ;  our  Sister  Miriam^  the  like  ;  our  Sister  Esther'" 
the  like. 

"Brother  Jephthah"  salutes  the  Brethren  Joseph,  Cammerhoff,  John,*^ 

'  Son  of  Gideon,  Captain  of  Pacligatgoch,  baptized  February  13th,  1743,  at  Pach- 
gatgoch,  by  Biittner. 

^  This  was  Christina,  baptized  at  Bethlehem,  Janiiary  24th,  1740,  by  Bishop 
Cammerhof. 

*  Abraham.  *  Bishop  Spangenberg. 

*  Sarah  was  the  wife  of  Abraham,  of  the  Wampauoag  nation,  baptized  August 
11th,  1742,  at  Shekomeko,  by  Christian  Ranch. 

^  Rachel  was  the  wife  of  Jacob,  one  of  the  writers  of  the  letter,  of  the  Mohican 
nation,  baptized  December  23 J,  1742,  at  Shekomeko. 

'  Abigail,  a  Mohican,  was  the  wife  of  Sangschoacha,  and  daughter  of  Abraham's 
brother,  baptized  June  26th,  \743,  at  Shekomeko,  by  Biittner. 

^  Bartholomew  was  a  Wampanoag.     His  father's  name  was  Apowachenaut. 

^  Miriam  was  the  wife  of  Moses,  one  of  the  writers  of  this  letter,  baptized  De- 
cember 23d,  1742,  at  Shekomeko,  by  Biittner. 

'"  Esther  was  probably  the  daughter  of  Hannah,  of  the  Mohican  nation,  baptized 
May  14th,  1744,  at  Shekomeko,  by  Christian  Ranch,  and  afterwards  married  to 
Augustus,  a  Delaware,  and  the  Captain  of  Meniolagomekah.  There  was  another 
female  convert  of  the  same  name. 

"  Jephthah  was  a  widower,  of  the  Sopus  Indians,  baptized  July  31st,  1743,  at 
Shekomeko,  by  Biittner. 

'*  Bishop  John  de  Watteville  and  Nathaniel  Seidel. 
12 


166  MORAVIANS  IN  NEW  TORK 

Nathaniel,  Father  Nitschmann,*  and  the  whole  church,  and  recommends 
himself  to  their  prayers,  for  he  is  poor  in  body  and  soul. 

"And  we,  the  rest  of  the  brethren,  are  indeed  poor,  and  cannot  say 
much ;  yet  we  will  constantly  tell  Brother  Bruce  the  state  of  our  hearts ; 
then  our  brethren  and  sisters  at  Bethlehem  will  know  how  we  stand  to 
Jesus. 

"  Jephthah  salutes  also  Philippus^  and  all  his  children.  Brother  Moses 
salutes  Brother  Joseph  and  wife,  Brother  Cammerhof  and  wife,  Brother 
John  and  wife,  and  Nathaniel,  and  kisses  them  heartily,  and  the  whole 
church  at  Bethlehem  and  Gnadenhuetten.^ 

"  I  salute  my  son  Jonathan,*  and  pray  that  he  may  see  this  letter,  that 
he  may  know  what  we  have  made  out.  Sarah*  salutes  Jonathan  and  Anna  f 
and  we  shall  be  glad  if  he  comes  back  again  ;  and  Sarah  is  very  glad  that 
Jonathan  again  stands  on  a  good  ground. 

"Moses  salutes  Jonathan,  and  rejoices  much  over  him,  and  says  :  '  The 
words  of  our  Saviour  shall  always  be  a  light  to  us.' 

"  And  we  salute  the  brethren  and  sisters  from  the  Delaware  nation,  and 
were  very  glad  to  hear  of  the  grace  our  Saviour  has  bestowed  upon  them ; 
and  we  say  to  them  :  Let  us  dwell  together  at  the  pierced  feet  of  Jesus ;  let 
us  abide  there;  and,  although  we  have  never  seen  one  another  with  our 
eyes,  we  shall  nevertheless  feel  that  we  are  one ;  and,  when  the  Lord  comes, 
then  shall  we  see  and  meet  one  another. 

"  Esther  salutes  Jonathan  and  Anna,  and  all  the  sisters,  and  is  sorry  that 
she  could  not  go  with  them,  for  her  mother  hindered  her.  But  she  hopes 
a  time  may  come  when  she  can  visit  them.  Brother  Jephthah's  daughter, 
who  is  sick,  salutes  her  sister  in  Gnadenhuetten,  and  thinks  she  will  not 
live ;  prays,  therefore,  heartily  to  be  baptized. 

ABRAHAM,  MOSES,  and  JACOB." 

'  David  Nitschmann,  the  elder ;  born  in  Moravia,  where  he  was  imprisoned  for 
the  sake  of  his  faith,  hut  escaped  to  Saxony.  He  was  one  of  the  first  missionaries 
to  St.  Croix,  and  the  founder  of  Bethlehem.  He  died  in  his  84th  year.  At  the 
time  this  letter  was  written  he  was  73  years  old. 

2  Philippus  was  the  son-in-law  of  Jephthah,  a  Wampanoag,  baptized  Dec.  23d, 
1742,  at  Shekomeko,  by  Biittner. 

3  A  mission  station  on  the  Mahony,  in  Pennsylvania,  near  what  is  now  Mauch 
Chunk.     The  massacre  of  the  missionaries  took  place  there  in  1755. 

*  Jonathan  was  Abraham's  son,  baptized  October  10th,  1742,  at  Shekomeko,  by 
Biittner. 

^  Wife  of  Abraham. 

^  Anna  was  Jonathan's  wife,  baptized  July  31st,  1743,  at  Shekomeko,  by  Martin 
Mack.     She  was  the  sister  of  Bartholomew,  and  daughter  of  Apowachenaut. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  167 

Such  the  letter.  The  labors  of  Bruce  were  abundantly 
crowned  with  success.  An  abiding  impression  had  evi- 
dently been  made  upon  the  Indians  on  the  occasion  of 
Wattevillc's  visit;  and  it  became  Brace's  duty  to  deepen 
this  impression,  especially  among  the  unbaptized.  The 
result  of  his  efforts  in  this  respect  is  set  forth  most  satisfac- 
torily by  the  circumstance  that,  after  he  had  been  at 
Wcchquadnach  only  a  few  weeks,  Bishop  Cammerhoff, 
accompanied  by  another  minister  named  Bezold,  arrived 
from  Bethlehem,  in  order  to  baptize  a  number  of  Indians 
who  longed  for  the  reception  of  this  sacrament.  I  have 
found,  in  the  archives  of  my  church  at  Philadelphia,  the 
journal  of  Cammerhoff,  describing  this  visit ;  but  time  per- 
mits me  to  communicate  only  a  few  items  from  the  docu- 
ment. The  two  brethren  arrived  at  Wcchquadnach  on 
March  12th,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  after  a  very 
fatiguing  and,  at  times,  dangerous  journey  of  six  days, 
having  been  obliged,  among  other  perils,  to  cross  the  Hud- 
son, while  obstructed  by  large  fields  of  ice,  in  a  small  boat. 
"We  first  came,"  says  Cammerhoff  in  his  journal,  "to 
Abraham's  hut.  Sarah,  Abraham's  wife,  had  spied  us  from 
afar,  through  a  crevice  in  the  hut,  and  hurried  out  to  meet 
us,  full  of  joy,  receiving  us  right  warmly,  with  many  tears 
of  love.  Very  soon  came  John,  who  had  lately  visited 
Bethlehem,  Miriam,  Abigail,  Jephthah,  Jacob,  and  several 
others,  also  of  the  unbaptized ;  and  all  rejoiced  exceedingly 
to  see  us.  John  ran  directly  to  call  Brother  Bruce,  who 
was  in  the  house  on  Gnadensee  ;  and,  on  his  coming  to  us, 
Brother  Bruce  rejoiced  more  than  all,  not  having  expected 
us  so  soon."  The  visitors  remained  with  the  Indians  four 
days,  conversing  with  them  in  their  huts,  and  holding  pub- 
lic services.  A  deep  feeling  pervaded  Bruce's  flock.  Not 
less  than  twenty  new  converts  were  baptized ;  and,  previ- 
ous to  the  departure  of  the  brethren,  a  solemn  and  unusually 


168  MOEAVIANS  IN  NEW  YORK 

blessed  celebration  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
took  place  in  the  house  near  the  lake.  Bruce  was  much 
encouraged  by  this  visit,  and  continued  to  labor  faithfully 
for  the  next  three  months.  A  hopeful  future  lay  before 
him.  The  beams  of  the  sun,  as  he  saw  them  reflected  by 
the  lake,  were  to  him  daily  an  emblem  of  the  light  of  grace 
which  was  being  shed  abroad,  more  and  more,  by  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness,  over  this  whole  region — substantiating  the 
name  which  the  piety  of  the  brethren  had  given  to  those 
waters.  But  God  thought  fit,  just  at  this  auspicious  time, 
to  move  in  a  mysterious  way.  Bruce  was  taken  seriously 
ill  on  the  6th  of  July,  and,  after  only  three  days  of  suffer- 
ing, slept  in  death.  I  will  not  detail  the  closing  scene  of 
his  life  and  his  funeral,  for  an  account  of  both  was  pub- 
lished in  the  interesting  narrative  of  the  late  visit  paid  to 
this  place  by  a  number  of  the  gentlemen  before  me ;  and  I 
am,  at  all  events,  trespassing  on  your  patience.  Let  me 
merely  remind  you  that  the  earthly  remains  of  this  faithful 
servant  of  God  were  carried  in  two  canoes  over  yonder  lake, 
and  buried  by  his  Indian  brethren,  in  the  absence  of  white 
missionaries,  in  the  very  field  where  we  are  now  standing — 
Gideon,  the  Wampano,  Captain  of  Pachgatgoch,  offering 
up  a  fervent  prayer  at  the  open  grave. 

This  ended  the  career  of  the  first  missionary,  to  whose 
memory  this  monument  is  set.  In  what  estimation  he  was 
held  by  the  church,  becomes  clear  from  the  remarks,  to 
which  I  alluded  before,  made  by  Bishop  de  Watteville,  when 
announcing  his  death  to  the  congregation  at  Bethlehem: 
"  In  the  last  years  of  his  life,"  said  Watteville,  "  Brother 
Bruce  found  his  proper  sphere  among  the  Indians.  His 
heart  burned  with  the  desire  to  bring  the  ofi'ers  of  salvation 
to  this  people,  and  the  Saviour,  of  late,  made  him  the  prin- 
cipal instrument  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  Delawares.  He 
labored  among  them  near  Nazareth,  Bethlehem,  and  Meni- 


AXT)   CONNECTICUT.  169 

olagomegah.^  Then  he  went  to  Weehquadnach  and  Pach- 
gatgoch,  where  he  was  very  successful.  Previous  to  this,  in 
1747,  when  thirty  converts  from  these  villages  had  arrived 
at  Bethlehem,  Brother  Bruce  was  their  guide  to  Gnaden- 
huetten.  In  all  respects  he  labored  with  apostolical  unc- 
tion, and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  spirit  will  fall  abund- 
antly upon  some  other  brother."  Thus  the  Bishop,  as  I 
find  his  remarks  recorded  in  an  old  ministerial  diary,  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  Moravian  Church  at  Beth- 
lehem. 

And  now  I  pass  over  a  period  of  twenty-five  years  in 
the  history  of  the  operations  of  the  Moravian  Brethren  in 
this  section  of  country;  twenty-five  years  that  saw  the 
final  abandonment  of  the  mission  at  Weehquadnach  in 
1753,  and  the  one  at  Pachgatgoch  in  1762,  and  intro- 
duce into  my  narrative  the  second  missionary  whose 
memory  that  stone  is  to  preserve.  It  is  Joseph  Powell, 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel  among  the  white  settlers  of 
this  neighborhood.  So  great  a  change  had  taken  place 
in  the  sentiments  of  these  people,  that  after  the  death  of 
Bruce,  they  wished  to  have  a  Moravian  to  minister  unto 
them  in  holy  things.  Hence  Abraham  Reinke,  an  ordained 
clergyman,  was  sent  by  the  Church  to  commence  this  new 
enterprise  in  1753,  immediately  after  the  Weehquadnach 
mission  had  been  relinquished.  He  was  followed  by  others, 
one  of  the  last  of  whom  was  Powell. 

Powell  was,  therefore,  not  a  missionary  among  the  Indians 
who  once  lived  here,  and  yet  his  memory  deserves  to  be 
enshrined  with  that  of  Bruce.  For,  like  him,  he  belonged 
to  the  noble  company  of  early  evangelists  in  America,  and 
did  the  work  of  an  itinerant  for  thirty-two  years  in  difi'erent 
parts  of  our  country,  and  even  beyond  its  borders,  in  the 

*  Smith's  Gap,  Blue  Mountains,  Pennsylvania. 


170  MOEAVIANS   IN  NEW  YOEK 

West  Indies.  Born  in  1710,  in  Shropshire,  England,  he 
became  acquainted  with  the  Brethren  when  a  young  man 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Wesley  and  AVhitefield. 
In  1741  he  offered  to  go  to  America  with  a  colony  of  Mo- 
ravian immigrants,  who  are  known  in  Moravian  history  by 
the  name  of  the  "First  Sea  Congregation."  This  offer  was 
accepted.  Before  leaving  England,  he  married  Martha 
Pritchard,  who,  after  having  spent  the  years  of  her  early 
youth  in  worldly  pleasures,  was  brought  to  reflection  by  a 
severe  illness,  and  subsequently  found  peace  in  believing 
while  attending  a  Love-Feast,  celebrated  by  a  company  of 
Moravian  Brethren  at  Oxford.  She  was  a  woman  just 
fitted  to  be  the  wife  of  an  evangelist.  The  "  Sea  Congre- 
gation," which  was  composed  of  thirty-five  married  persons 
and  twenty-two  unmarried  men,  sailed  from  Gravesend,  in 
the  snow  Catharine,  on  March  19th,  1742,  and  reached 
Philadelphia  on  June  7th,  while  the  seventh  of  the  Union 
Conferences,  or  Synods,  organized  by  Count  Zinzendorf  at 
Germantown,  and  composed  of  representatives  from  differ- 
ent denominations,  was  in  session.  Powell  and  his  wife 
spent  the  first  weeks  after  their  arrival  at  Philadelphia,  and 
then  went  to  Bethlehem.  In  1743,  Avhen  the  Moravian 
Church  in  the  city  had  been  established,  Powell  was  one  of 
the  missionaries  who  occupied  the  Parsonage.  I  find  his 
name  mentioned  frequently  in  the  church-books.  He 
preached  in  the  city  and  at  neighboring  outposts.  In  1747 
he  accompanied  the  missionary  John  Hagen  to  Shamokin 
(now  Sunbury,  Pa.),  where  a  new  enterprise  among  the 
Indians  had  been  commenced,  and  helped  to  build  the  mis- 
sion-house. Nine  years  later,  he  was  ordained  a  regular 
minister  of  the  Church.  His  labors  for  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel  were  now  distinguished  by  redoubled  zeal.  He  led 
the  life  of  an  evangelist  even  more  fully  than  Bruce ;  at 
least  the  regions  which  he  traversed  were  more  extended. 


AXD   CONNECTICUT.  171 

Sometimes  we  find  him  at  Neshaminy,  in  Bucks  County,  in 
Pennsylvania,  then  on  Staten  Island  or  Long  Island ;  again 
he  is  at  Dansbury,  near  the  Delaware  Watcrgap,  and  pre- 
sently at  Gnadenhuetten  on  the  Mahony,  on  Carroll's  Manor, 
in  Maryland,  or  at  some  station  in  New  England.  Nor 
were  these  the  limits  of  his  itinerant  operations.  Six  years 
of  his  life,  as  I  intimated  before,  were  spent  in  the  Island 
of  Jamaica,  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  negro  slaves.  On 
all  these  journeys  he  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  until 
the  year  1772,  when  she  was  taken  seriously  ill  while  at 
the  station  on  Carroll's  Manor.  In  consequence  of  this 
illness,  she  and  her  husband  returned  to  Bethlehem,  where 
she  died  two  years  afterwards,  on  May  6th,  1774.  Three 
weeks  subsequent  to  this  heavy  affliction,  the  indefatigable 
itinerant,  now  in  his  sixty-third  year,  set  out  for  the  former 
Bruce-place  in  this  neighborhood,  and  commenced  to  labor 
among  the  friends  of  the  Church,  who  were  still  anxious  to 
receive  the  ministrations  of  a  Moravian  brother.  He  soon 
won  their  affections,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Bruce,  a  hopeful 
future  lay  before  him.  But  again  God's  ways  were  not 
those  of  man.  Here  was  to  be  the  closing  scene  of  Powell's 
active  life.  Four  months  constituted  the  span  allotted  to 
his  ministry.  On  the  23d  of  September  it  was  cut  short 
suddenly  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  and  the  good  man  went 
to  rejoin  his  partner  in  life,  and  to  rest  with  her  from  all 
his  labors  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  We  visited  his  grave  an 
hour  ago.  Such  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life  and  work  of 
the  second  missionary,  whose  name  that  monument  is  to 
perpetuate. 

And  now  that  I  have  finished  my  narrative,  let  me  ask: 
What  is  the  principle  which  it  sets  forth,  and  which,  as  I  said 
in  the  opening  of  my  address,  we  are  here  to  exalte  I 
answer  without  hesitation,  and  I  think  you  will  all  agree 
with  me  in  the  answer — love  to  our  fellow-men,  to  our 


172  MOEAVIANS   IN   NEW  YOEK 

neighbor,  as  the  Scripture  says,  or  love  to  the  brethren,  as 
the  Apostle  John  so  beautifully  expresses  the  idea.  By  this 
I  do  not  mean  a  natural  and  an  unsanctified  philanthropy ; 
but  a  love  to  man  growing  out  of  love  to  God,  as  He  has 
revealed  himself  in  the  person  of  His  only  begotten  Son, 
Jesus  Christ.  This  was  the  grand  principle  that  animated 
Bruce  and  Powell  in  all  their  manifold  works,  and  that  lay 
at  the  foundation  of  every  missionary  operation  of  the  early 
Moravians  generally.  All  men  were  their  brethren,  whether 
degraded  Esquimaux,  in  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North,  or 
wild  Hottentots  in  the  sunny  plains  of  the  South ;  whether 
down-trodden  slaves  in  the  isles  of  the  sea,  or  proud  Indian 
warriors  on  this  western  continent;  whether  polished  Eu- 
ropeans, entangled  in  the  formalism  of  State  churches,  or 
hardy  sons  of  America,  deprived  in  their  new  settlements 
of  the  means  of  grace.  And  being  their  brethren,  they 
loved  their  souls,  nor  thought  any  sacrifice  too  great,  any 
peril  too  imminent,  any  sea  too  broad,  any  land  too  wild  and 
sterile,  if  they  could  gain  but  one  soul  for  the  Lord.  From 
Count  Zinzendorf,  and  Zinzendorf's  daughter,  wandering 
together  through  pathless  forests  in  search  of  the  Indian's 
wigwam,  that  they  might  tell  of  God  made  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  to  the  humblest  mechanic,  sitting  in  his  workshop, 
industrious  at  his  trade,  until  he  should  be  called  to  arise 
and  be  about  his  Heavenly  Father's  business,  the  whole 
brother  and  sisterhood  of  those  heroic  days  of  which  I  have 
been  speaking,  considered  themselves  a  band  of  laborers  or- 
dained to  be  always  ready  to  go  and  work  in  the  vineyard 
of  the  Lord;  and  few  were  the  cases,  when  the  call  did 
come,  in  which  immediate  and  joyful  obedience  was  not 
rendered,  out  of  love  to  the  brethren.  Let  me  give  you 
two  illustrations  of  this  wonderful  state  of  constant  pre- 
paredness. In  Bishop  Spangenberg's  work  on  the  Moravian 
Missions,  published  in  1788,  the  following  fact  is  mentioned: 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  173 

"  Having  once  made  known,"  he  says,  "  on  a  prayer  day,  at 
Bethlehem,  in  North  America,  that  five  missionaries  had 
died  in  a  very  short  time  in  the  island  of  St.  Thomas, 
where  the  difficulties  of  our  brethren  were  then  very  great, 
not  less  than  eight  persons  voluntarily  offered  on  that  very 
day,  to  go  thither  to  replace  those  who  had  fallen."  This 
is  the  first  illustration,  and  here  the  other ;  when  Zinzen- 
dorf  was  at  Marienborn,  a  former  Moravian  settlement  in 
Germany,  he  sent,  one  day,  for  a  certain  brother,  and  ad- 
dressed him  as  follows :  "  Will  you  go  to  Greenland  to-mor- 
row, as  a  missionary  T'  It  was  the  first  intimation  the  man 
had  had  of  such  a  thing.  He  hesitated  for  a  moment. 
And  why'?  Let  his  quaint,  but  ever  memorable  answer  tell: 
"  If  the  shoemaker  can  finish  the  boots  which  I  have 
ordered  of  him  by  to-morrow,  I  will  go!" 

Such  were  the  workings  of  the  great  principle  which  we 
exalt  this  day,  to  the  glory  of  God.  What  wonder,  then, 
that  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Church,  in  Christian  and 
heathen  countries,  were  eminently  blest;  whether  in  leading 
whole  tribes  from  darkness  into  light,  or  in  bringing  the 
one  lost  sheep  to  the  good  Shepherd's  fold.  In  Christian 
lands,  the  great  aim  of  the  early  Brethren  was  not  to  prose- 
lyte, but  to  evangelize.  Hence  others,  in  this  field,  accom- 
plished far  more  as  to  numbers,  but  none  excelled  them  in 
the  faithfulness  with  which  they  sought  out  single,  obscure 
souls,  for  whom  no  man  else  cared.  Among  pagan  nations 
the  grand  theme  of  their  preaching  was  Christ  Jesus  and 
Him  crucified,  and  the  constant  purpose  of  their  pastoral 
labors,  the  special  care  of  individual  souls.  Hence  tribes 
whose  moral  renovation  philosophers  deemed  impossible, 
were  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  civilized  and  Christian 
peoples ;  and  a  mighty  impulse  was  given  to  the  work, 
in  which  the  whole  Protestant  Church  is  now  engaged,  of 


174  MORAVIANS   IN   NEW  YORK 

preaching   in   all  the  world    the   glorious    Gospel  of  the 
blessed  God. 

My  friends,  I  fear  I  have  taxed  your  patience  almost 
beyond  endurance,  and  I  will  certainly  not,  preacher  though 
I  am,  now  proceed  to  inflict  upon  you  a  sermon  in  addition 
to  what  I  have  already  said.  Yet  you  will  permit  me,  I 
feel  assured,  to  give  utterance,  in  conclusion,  to  a  single 
heart-felt  wish.  May  the  divine  principle  set  forth  by 
the  works  of  the  men  whose  names  are  graven  in  that 
marble  block,  and  by  the  labors  of  all  their  fellow  mis- 
sionaries, become  the  grand  principle  of  our  future  lives ! 
Let  us  return  from  this  interesting  celebration  to  our  several 
spheres  of  duty,  whatever  or  wherever  these  may  be,  with 
the  manly  resolution  to  do  something  for  our  fellow  men 
before  we  die — not  merely  in  the  way  of  a  Christless  phi- 
lanthropy, but  in  that  of  exalted.  Godlike  love  to  the 
brethren.  It  seems  to  me  that  great  whispers — the  whis- 
pers of  the  dead — are  even  now  rising  from  the  borders  of 
this  "  lake  of  grace,"  and  coming  up  from  the  foot  of  yon- 
der distant  hills  of  Pachgatgoch,  all  blending  into  one  deep, 
solemn  admonition:  work  while  it  is  day,  for  the  night 
Cometh  in  which  no  man  can  work. 

The  Reverend  gentleman  spoke  with  more  than  ordinary 
fervor  and  eloquence :  he  was  evidently  carried  away  by  the 
excitement  of  the  time  and  place — and  who  that  was  present 
was  not '?  A  multitude  gathered  together  to  hear  the  word 
of  God  in  nature's  majestic  temple,  with  the  sky  for  a  dome 
and  the  whistling  forest  wind  the  wild  accompaniment  to 
the  hymns  of  praise  that  were  swayed  in  fitful  gusts  over 
rock  and  dell,  solemn  rites  over  the  remains  of  Christian 
heroes — mournful  strains  that  brought  home  to  the  soul  the 
memory  of  those  who  are  gone  before,  and  visions  of  the 
resurrection  such  as  are  recorded  in  all  the  grandeur  of  in 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  175 

spired  language — could  other  than  most  peculiar  feelings 
rise  in  the  mind  and  heart,  amid  the  strange  picturesque- 
ness  of  that  day's  scene  at  Gnadensee'? 

The  venerable  Bishop  made  a  few  concluding  remarks ; 
and  after  many  hundred  voices  had  united  in  singing, 
according  to  Mear,  the  touching  stanza — 

"  How  sweetly  these  our  brethren  sleep, 
Enjoying  endless  peace ; 
The  grave,  wherein  their  Saviour  lay 
Is  now  their  resting-place." 

All  once  more  joined  in  the  Doxology: — 

"  To  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
One  God,  whom  we  adore. 
Be  glory,  as  it  was,  is  now, 
And  shall  be  evermore," 

and  the  solemn  services  were  closed. 

It  was  two  o'clock  when  the  Committee  reached  Mr. 
Andrew  Lake's  farm-house.  Here  a  number  of  those  who 
had  participated  in  the  inauguration  had  assembled,  and 
new  and  interesting  acquaintances  were  formed.  Several 
clergymen  were  of  the  party — the  Rev.  H.  Eddy,  of  New 
Canaan,  and  the  Rev.  L.  W.  Bacon,  of  Litchfield.  All  ex- 
pressed themselves  gratified  with  the  proceedings  they  had 
witnessed,  and  the  marked  decorum  observed  by  the  con- 
course of  spectators.  It  was  here  that  the  following 
paper  w^as  put  into  the  hands  of  the  President  of  the  Com- 
mittee : — 

Dear  Brethren  in  Christ  :— - 

Called  away  from  my  parish  by  the  meeting  of  an  ecclesiastical  body 
with  which  I  am  connected,  I  shall  be  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  being 
with  you  on  Thursday  next,  at  the  inauguration  of  the  monument  to  the 
Rev.  David  Bruce. 

In  visiting  the  locality  some  months  since,  I  was  impressed  with  the  con- 


176  MORAViAxs  I^r  new  york 

viction  that  something  should  be  done  to  mark  the  spot,  which  had  been 
consecrated  by  the  prayers  and  toils  of  this  pioneer  in  the  missionary  work. 
I  accordingly  suggested  to  several  of  the  members  of  my  church  the  erec- 
tion of  a  monument  to  Mr.  Bruce,  to  which  should  be  affixed  the  fragment 
of  the  old  grave-stone,  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Lake,  the  missing 
portions  being  carefully  restored.  Other  duties  prevented  me  from  pressing 
the  matter  through  at  the  time. 

I  rejoice  that  now  a  memorial  is  to  be  set  up  to  the  zeal  of  your  own 
body  in  extending  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
among  the  aborigines  of  this  country,  and  that  the  name  of  one  who  in 
the  prosecution  of  this  work  here  found  a  grave,  is  thus  to  be  handed  down 
to  coming  generations. 

May  this  stone  long  remain  a  memorial  to  David  Bruce,  and  a  witness 
for  Jesus.  Yours,  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 

D.  D.  THOMPKINS  McLAUGHLIN, 

Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church,  Sharon,  Conn. 
October  Uh,  1859. 

Having  for  the  last  time  shared  the  liberality  of  kind  and 
hospitable  friends  at  Mr,  Lake's,  the  time  had  now  come  for 
the  members  of  the  Committee  to  bid  adieu  to  the  scenes 
amid  which  two  days  of  remarkable  interest  had  been 
passed.  It  was  with  regret  that  they  parted  from  those 
whose  friendship  had  but  just  been  made. 

Their  sojourn  among  an  intelligent  and  warm-hearted 
rural  population,  which  manifested  the  liveliest  concern  for 
the  successful  result  of  their  mission,  will  ever  be  held  in 
most  pleasing  remembrance.  To  the  Shekomeko  Literary 
Association,  to  Messrs.  Hunting,  Wilber,  Deuel,  Clarkes, 
and  Lake,  the  Committee  would  take  this  means  of  return- 
ing thanks,  for  their  cheerful  co-operation  in  the  erection 
of  the  monuments  at  Shekomeko  and  Wechquadnach;  nor 
is  this  a  recognition  of  valuable  services  rendered  only  to 
the  members  of  the  delegation.  It  is  made  in  behalf  of  the 
Moravian  Historical  Society,  and  of  the  church  of  which 
this  association  is  a  part. 


AND   CONNECTICUT.  177 

At  a  late  meeting  of  this  body,  the  expediency  of  in- 
trusting the  newly-erected  monuments  to  the  care  of  local 
committees  was  taken  into  consideration,  and  the  following 
gentlemen  appointed  to  constitute  the  same:  Messrs.  Ed- 
ward Hunting,  Theron  Wilber,  Silas  G.  Deuel,  of  Pine 
Plains,  to  report  annually  on  the  condition  of  the  Sheko- 
meko  monument ;  and  Mr.  Andrew  Lake,  Sr.,  Col.  Hiram 
Clark,  Gen'l  Chas.  F.  Sedgwick,  to  report  annually  on 
the  condition  of  the  Wechquadnach  monument. 


CONSTITUTION 


MORAYIAX  HISTOPtlCAL  SOCIETY, 


ARTICLE  I. 


This  Association  shall  be  called  "The  Moravian  Historical  Society," 
and  its  object  shall  be  the  elucidation  of  the  History  of  the  Moravian 
Church  in  America ;  not,  however,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  general  History 
of  the  Moravian  Church. 

ARTICLE  11. 

The  Society  shall  be  composed  of  such  persons  as  have  been,  or  may  be, 
admitted,  from  time  to  time,  according  to  its  laws  and  regulations. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  Officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  annually  chosen,  by  a  majority  of 
ballots,  at  the  stated  meeting  in  October,  and  shall  consist  of  a  President, 
a  Vice-President  from  every  congregation,  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  a 
Recording  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  a  Librarian. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President,  or  in  his  absence,  of  the  Vice- 
Presidents,  in  rotation,  to  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the  Society,  to  pre- 
serve order,  to  regulate  the  debates,  to  state  motions  and  questions,  and  to 
announce  the  decisions  thereupon.  If  neither  the  President  nor  any  of 
the  Vice-Presidents  be  present  at  a  meeting,  the  Society  may  choose  a 
member  to  act  as  President  at  that  meeting. 


180  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE 


ARTICLE  V. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  conduct  and  have  charge  of  the 
correspondence  of  the  Society,  and  shall  assist  the  Recording  Secretary  in 
the  reading  of  all  letters  and  other  documents  at  the  meetings. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

The  Recording  Secretary  shall  keep  full  and  correct  minutes  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Society,  and  transcribe  the  same  into  a  book  of  record. 
He  shall  give  due  notice  of  any  special  meeting  that  may  be  called. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

The  Treasurer  shall  have  charge  of  the  moneys  and  other  funds  belong- 
ing to  the  Society.  He  shall  collect  the  contributions  of  the  members,  and 
other  income  of  the  Society,  and  shall  pay  such  claims  against  the  Society 
as  shall  have  been  duly  examined  and  ordered  to  be  paid.  He  shall  pre- 
sent, at  the  annual  meeting,  a  statement  of  his  receipts  and  expenditures 
during  the  preceding  year,  with  a  full  report  on  the  financial  condition  of 
the  Society. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Librarian  shall  have  charge  of  the  books,  manuscripts,  and  other 
property  in  the  rooms  of  the  Society,  and  shall  arrange  and  preserve  the 
same  in  proper  and  convenient  order.  He  shall  keep  a  Catalogue  of  the 
books,  manuscripts,  and  other  donations,  vi'ith  the  names  of  the  donors. 
At  the  annual  meeting  he  shall  present  a  report  to  the  Society,  embracing 
an  account  of  his  administration  of  the  Library,  and  of  its  condition  during 
the  preceding  year. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

Vacancies  which  may  occur  in  any  of  the  above-named  offices  shall  be 
filled  by  an  election  at  the  next  stated  meeting  after  such  vacancy  shall 
have  been  announced  to  the  Society ;  but  such  election  shall  be  only  for 
the  unexpired  term  of  the  person  vacating  the  office. 

ARTICLE  X. 

The  Society  shall  hold  stated  meetings  on  the  second  Monday  evening 
of  every  month.  Special  meetings  may  be  called  by  the  President,  or,  in 
his  absence,  by  any  of  the  Vice-Presidents,  at  the  written  request  of  at 


MORAVIAN   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY.  181 

least  three  members  of  the  Society  ;  of  which  meetings  due  notice  must  be 
given.  The  members  present  at  any  meeting  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 
The  annual  meeting  shall  be  held  on  the  third  "Wednesday  in  October. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

No  alteration  shall  be  made  in  this  Constitution  unless  the  proposed 
amendments  shall  have  been  drawn  up  in  writing  and  read  to  the  Society 
at  three  successive  monthly  stated  meetings.  Nor  shall  any  such  amend- 
ment be  considered  as  adopted  unless  sanctioned  by  the  votes  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  members  present  at  the  meeting  when  the  question  shall  be 
taken  upon  its  adoption. 


13 


LAWS 


310RAYIAN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


AETICLE  I. 


Any  person  belonging  to  the  Moravian  Church  may  become  an  active 
member  upon  application  to  any  officer  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Any  person  not  belonging  to  the  Moravian  Church  may  be  elected  an 
honorary  member  at  the  next  stated  meeting  after  his  name  shall  have 
been  proposed  as  a  candidate  to  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  III. 

Those  active  members  shall  be  deemed  qualified  voters  at  the  meetings 
and  elections,  who  have  subscribed  the  Constitution,  and  who  have  paid 
all  their  dues  to  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  lY. 

All  active  members  shall  pay  an  annual  contribution  of  not  less  than 
half  a  dollar.  The  payment  of  ten  dollars,  at  one  time,  by  a  member  not 
in  arrears  to  the  Society,  shall  constitute  him  a  member  for  life,  with  an 
exemption  from  all  future  annual  payments.  And  any  member  liable  to 
an  annual  contribution,  who  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  pay  the  same  for  the 
term  of  two  years,  shall  be  notified  by  the  Treasurer,  in  writing,  that  his 
rights  as  a  member  are  suspended ;  and,  in  case  the  said  arrears  are  not 
paid  when  the  third  annual  contribution  shall  have  become  due,  the  mem- 
bership of  such  defaulting  memljer  shall  then  be  forfeited,  his  name  stricken 
from  the  roll,  and  reported  to  the  Society  by  the  Treasurer. 


184  LAWS   OF  THE   MORAVIAN   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

AKTICLE  V. 

Honorary  members  may  attend  any  meeting  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

At  the  stated  meeting  in  October  five  Managers  shall  be  chosen  by  the 
Society,  who,  together  with  the  officers  of  the  Society,  shall  constitute  an 
Executive  Committee,  with  full  power  to  direct  the  business  affairs  of  the 
Society ;  and  they  shall  meet  on  the  fourth  Monday  of  every  month. 
Four  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

ARTICLE  YIL 

All  committees  shall  be  chosen,  unless  the  Society  shall  otherwise  direct, 
on  nominations  previously  made  and  seconded,  the  question  being  taken 
on  the  appointment  of  each  member  of  the  committee  separately.  The 
member  first  elected  of  any  committee  shall  be  chairman,,  and  considered 
responsible  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  committee.  A  majority 
of  any  special  committee  shall  be  a  quorum. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  present,  at  the  annual  meeting,  a  report 
upon  the  transactions  and  general  condition  of  the  Society  during  the 
preceding  year. 


OFFICERS 


MORAVIAN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETV, 


JAMES  HENRY. 


WILLIAM  C.  REICHEL,  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  R.  PARMENIO  LEINBACH,   Friedhuul, 
EUGENE  M.  LEIBERT,  Sharon,  Ohio,  N.  C. 

CHRISTIAN  R.  HOEBER,  Nazareth,  Pa.,  NATHANIEL  S.  WOLLE,  Litiz,  Pa., 
HERMAN   A.    BRICKENSTEIN,  Olney,     GRANVILLE  HENRY,  Shoeneck,  Pa., 

111.,  EDMUND  DE  SCHWEINITZ,  Phila.,  Pa. 

FRANCIS  FRIES,  Salem,  N.  Carolina,         CLEMENT  L.  REINKE,  Gnadenhutten,  0. 

EDWARD  T.  KLUGE,  Brooklyn,  N.  York. 

S^nasurcr. 
GRANVILLE  HENRY. 

WILLIAM  H.  BIGLER,  Nazareth,  Pa. 

iUtoriing  Strrttarj. 
ALBERT  L.  OERTER,  Nazareth,  Pa. 

3Lifirarfan. 
SAMUEL  L.  LICHTENTHALER. 

^Tanagtrs. 
FRANCIS  JORDAN,  Philadelphia,         MAURICE  C.  JONES,  Bethlehem,  Pa., 
JOHN  C.  BRICKENSTEIN,  EDWARD  II.  REICHEL, 

HENRY  J.  VAN  VLECK. 

|)ul)Iitation:  Committtt. 
JAMES  HENRY,  AVILLIAM  C.  REICHEL, 

HENRY  T.  BACHMAN,  SYLVESTER  WOLLE. 

ANDREW  G.  KERN,  SAMUEL  LICHTENTHALER, 

HENRY  J.  VAN  VLECK,  EDWARD  H.  REICHEL. 


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